


Never dry your tears without gloves

by Laughingvirus



Category: EXO (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), VIXX, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst, Blood, Horror, Multi, Polygamous Relationships, Smut, Supernatural - Freeform, Vampires, Violence, Werewolves, slight gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 07:39:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4339730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laughingvirus/pseuds/Laughingvirus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Junmyeon wakes up alone in a new world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Act I

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings:** vampires, werewolves, blood, death, smut, violence, angst, mentions of polygamous relationships, slight gore

  
Junmyeon’s first memory was of a blazing fire and terrible pain. He remembered the pain in his throat, burning after having screamed for what felt like an eternity. As the pain slowly faded, he began to become aware of his surroundings. He could hear birds chirping, how fast their tiny little hearts were beating and every breath they took. When he finally opened his eyes, he was met with a bright light that stung his eyes and he let out a small sound of discomfort.

Slowly he sat up, blinking rapidly to get his eyes used to the light; he sucked a deep breath, taking in all the different smells. He could feel that burning sensation in his throat return, not as strong as it had been before but it was still there. He tried to swallow, furrowing his brows as he did so but the discomfort remained.

Taking deep breaths, he tried to ignore it and focus on something else. He looked around, noting that tall trees surrounded him. He could see birds in the trees and unconsciously licked his dry lips. Their blood was rushing through their veins and it was so tempting, but they were small. 

 

_Too small._

 

A few hundred meters away from him, a twig snapped and his head snapped up, his eyes wide as he stared at the small fawn that had stepped on the twig. Its heart was beating fast and it was crying desperately, probably calling for its mother. Before Junmyeon was aware of what he was doing, he was standing on unsteady feet, hiding behind a large stone close to the fawn. His whole body was trembling. The fawn's quick heartbeat was deafening and Junmyeon felt his whole being crave for the blood that was pumping through the young animal's body.

The fawn cried out for its mother once more before Junmyeon shot out from his hiding spot. The animal didn't even have time to react before its neck was broken with a loud snap and the forest stilled. The birds had stopped chirping and the only sounds were Junmyeon's harsh breathing. He dropped the dead animal to the ground, sinking down on his knees to hover over it. It was radiating warmth and he felt comforted by the feeling. He nuzzled his nose into the soft fur on its neck before sinking his teeth through the skin. At first he only got a few drops of bloods on his tongue, the warm liquid sending a warm feeling through his body. He tried to suck but he didn't get much more blood, so he pulled back a little before searching for the right vein to bite.

This time blood hit his tongue right on and he began to suck, finally getting the blood he wanted. It was so sweet. So wonderfully sweet.

As he continued to drain the animal of its blood, the forest slowly began to move again. The birds were once again singing and far away, Junmyeon could pick up the sound of a bigger animal walking by.

 

Suddenly the bush beside him rustled and Junmyeon pulled back from the animal's neck, still hovering protectively over his prey. He could feel the blood running down from the corner of his lips but he didn't care, he had to protect what was his.

Just as he snarled, another vampire stepped out from the bushes and looked down on him. He was an older man dressed in a suit, his eyes a piercing silver and blood smeared around his mouth and on his off-white shirt. Junmyeon tilted his head. It was another of his kind, but something felt very wrong.

His eyes fell down on the vampire's hands, they had blood covering them as well and Junmyeon swallowed before looking back at the vampire's face. The smell of the blood triggered something inside Junmyeon. The smell was familiar. A sudden pain rose in his chest, it felt like a string that pulled him to something. It felt weird. Like it was somehow reaching towards something empty. He felt so confused as he stared at the vampire. 

"S-sire?" he croaked out, parted lips shivering. Had this vampire killed his maker?

"Oh," the vampire said softly, crouching down in front of Junmyeon with a smirk on his lips. "You're Siwon's little creation aren't you?"

 

_Siwon._

 

Was that the name of his sire? The silver-eyed vampire trailed his fingers along Junmyeon's jaw, leaving marks of his sire's blood on his skin and Junmyeon's whole body began to tremble. This vampire might have killed his sire. He couldn't trust this vampire.

"You're pretty," the vampire remarked before pulling his hand back and standing up. Junmyeon also pulled back a little, his whole body tense as he prepared to sprint if this vampire turned out to be dangerous. "We'll see how long it takes before someone gets you. Hopefully you’re alive next week. My servants likes to play with pretty things like you," he said, an amused smile on his lips. After that he just turned around, going back to where he had come from.

Junmyeon frowned after the vampire, unsure what to do. He could only think of one thing right now, and that was his sire. He was created to follow his sire, he knew that, but if his sire was dead then what purpose did he serve?

Slowly he got up on his legs again, abandoning his prey. It didn't matter anymore. He had to find his sire. His sire was everything that mattered.

 

He took a deep breath, trying to find the scent that made him feel safe. He carefully began to follow the other vampire's scent, the smell of his sire's blood lingering. He didn't know what to expect or what to do when he found his sire, he just knew he needed to find him.

The scent grew stronger and so did the metallic scent of blood. The closer he came to the scent, the slower he walked. He looked around the quiet forest, noticing how everything had begun to go to sleep as the sun was setting. The light from the sun made the forest look beautiful, golden and glowing, but the light didn't ease Junmyeon's worries that were gnawing in his gut.

 

He found his sire between the tall trees, lying on the ground.

"Sire!" he cried out, falling down on his knees beside the body. He placed his hands on the vampire's jaws, desperately calling for him. "Sire?" he whimpered, his fingers gently dancing over the vampire's cheeks. His sire was staring into empty space, red eyes dull and Junmyeon tried to call him again. His sire didn't react at all.

Junmyeon swallowed, looking down on his sire's bloody body. He was wearing a suit but the white dress-shirt was destroyed and colored red with blood. Junmyeon turned around, moving the previously white shirt to the side to get a better view on his sire's chest. He had to tend to his sire's wounds. 

As soon as he removed the shirt, Junmyeon realized with a sinking feeling that he couldn't tend to his sire. His sire had a gaping hole in his chest, on his left side. With careful fingers, Junmyeon stuck them down the hole, hoping to find his sire's heart. He wiggled his fingers, trying to find anything but whimpered as his fingers touched the ground beneath his sire. Whatever killed his sire had made a hole through his whole body.

Junmyeon pulled his hand back and held it against his own chest. What should he do?

"Sire?" he asked, voice tiny and full of fear. He turned back to his sire's face and stroked his jaw with his bloody hand. He brushed them over his sire's open eyes, closing them gently. Now it looked like his sire was sleeping. 

He looked around the forest again, slowly standing up. The forest was still quiet, the sun making it glow gold but it didn't feel safe. His sire was dead and he was alone. What should he do?

 

The temperature was dropping as the sun was setting and Junmyeon shivered, looking down at him. He was only wearing a bloody white t-shirt and dirty, torn jeans. He scratched the back of his head as he wiggled his toes; he hadn't even noticed that he had been without shoes. He looked up again, trying to decide what he was going to do. 

As the sun continued to set, Junmyeon began to collect the dry, colorful leaves that autumn had left on the forest floor. They rustled when he made a little pile of them. When the sun was only peeking over the horizon, he had finished collecting dead leaves and dry flowers. It looked like a bed, not a very cozy one but a bed nonetheless. He went back to his sire, whose blood had now begun to dry and his skin was looking ashen. 

With little to no effort at all, Junmyeon carefully picked up his sire and laid him down on the bed of leaves and flowers. His sire deserved everything. As Junmyeon looked down at his sleeping sire, he felt sadness wrapping itself around him and he sat down beside him. He never got the chance to get to know his sire.

During the night, Junmyeon stayed beside his sire, staring out into empty space for most of the time. Every now and then, his eyes flickered around the forest when there were any sounds. He could smell the different animals, he could hear the blood pump through their veins and the burn he had woken up with returned. But he didn't mind it. Staying next to his sire was more important. 

 

When the moon reached it's highest point, the forest seemed to suddenly wake up again. Bushes began to rustle and there were more animals moving around now. They walked together and they were bigger than any animal Junmyeon had noticed earlier that night, their footsteps very heavy. A foul smell he didn't recognize slowly spread through the woods and Junmyeon felt fear creep up on him. 

The footsteps came closer and Junmyeon could hear the heavy breathing of the animal. This was a predator, a predator bigger than himself. Maybe the predator had gotten a whiff of his sire.

Junmyeon snarled, moving from his sitting position to stand over his sire protectively. He looked around, picking up nothing but silhouettes in the shadows.

 

His snarl was answered with an even more vicious snarl and a huge, gray wolf stepped out from the dark. It had its teeth bared and fear was rooting itself in his chest. This beast could kill him. This beast meant danger. Even if every fiber in his body told him to run, to flee as quick as possible, Junmyeon stood his ground, blocking the beast’s path to his sire.

As he stared into the beast's clear, yellow eyes, a human suddenly walked out of the darkness. He had eyes similar to a feline and was completely naked, showcasing his smooth, pale skin for the world. He was slim build with narrow shoulders and Junmyeon felt rather confident that he could break this man in two. He could hear the heartbeat, strong and healthy, inside the man's chest and the blood rushing through his veins. But he smelt just as foul as the huge beast. 

"Well would you look at that," he purred, looking amused. Junmyeon clenched his jaws and stared right at the man. He hissed lowly as a warning to the man when he came too close. The man laughed, mockery heavy in the laughter and backed off. "I won't take your prey, little one," he cooed. "Don't worry."

 

"Taemin, Kibum," a new, gentle voice said and the huge wolf turned its head towards the man who also stepped out from the woods. He was, as the feline man, also naked but he was stronger built than the other with broader shoulders and more muscles. He also smelt like them and Junmyeon eyed him warily. "Stand down, both of you," he continued and to Junmyeon's surprise, and confusion, both the wolf and the other man cowered and backed away.

"What's your name?" the man asked, now looking at Junmyeon who frowned. He knew his name. But this man who was connected to these beasts didn't control him. He hissed again, narrowing his eyes at the man. No one except his sire could tell him what to do.

In return, the feline man growled, sound rumbling deep in his chest and the huge wolf snapped its jaws at Junmyeon. The man that just arrived, who Junmyeon suspected to be their leader, didn’t seem to mind his growl at all.

"Come on Jinki," the man whispered harshly to the well-built man. His eyes flickered to the feline man who was glaring at him. "Let's just rid the world of this pest," he continued and Junmyeon hissed again. He didn't mean harm to these weird, foul-smelling creatures, he just wanted them to leave.

"Kibum," the man, whose name Junmyeon had already forgotten, said and turned his head to look at the feline man. He seemed extremely gentle and Junmyeon might have felt comfortable with only him around. The other two made him uneasy. "He hasn't done any harm," he continued and Junmyeon swallowed. It sounded like they would let him be. "Just leave him," he finished and turned around. The wolf also turned around, following the man into the shadows but the feline man still remained, staring intensely at Junmyeon.

"One step outside your lane..." he began, raising his hand to point an accusing finger at Junmyeon, "and I will end your life," he continued with a growl, before turning around and leave Junmyeon alone in the thick forest with the dead body.

 

 

-

 

 

Junmyeon stayed beside his dead sire for days, picking at the dead leaves and sometimes picking up his sire's cold hand, playing with the stiff fingers. When the autumn nights wrapped their cold around him, he curled up against his sire's side, feeling warm, calm and safe, even if the body didn't radiate warmth at all.

Sometimes, he nuzzled his nose into his sire's neck, just wishing that he would be able to feel the blood running under the skin or hear the sound of his sire breathing. 

Even if Junmyeon only wanted to stay beside his sire, he couldn't help the burn in his throat that grew more intense each passing day. He had to fight hard to not leave when animals passed by. 

But at last, his self-control crumbled, the smell of animal blood too heavy in the air and he slowly left his sire, anxiously glancing back towards the body as he walked away. As the forest became more open, he turned his focus away from his sire to the smell of animals. There were a lot of stags around, but the foul smell of those beasts lingered in the air as well. 

Junmyeon scrunched his nose in distaste as he came across a particular strong scent track from those beasts, yet he still felt confused by the smell. It somehow smelt familiar to him, but he had no idea why. He didn’t know any of those beasts. 

Shaking the feeling off and focusing on his hunt; he knew had to catch something quick and return to his sire. He couldn't waste time; he had to get back quickly so no one got to his sire. 

He could hear a rabbit trying to move quietly beside him and in a matter of seconds he decided that the rabbit would do. 

 

The rabbit only had time to let out a small, terrified shriek before Junmyeon snapped its neck and it went still in his hands. Watching the small animal die, feeling its heart stop, made something inside Junmyeon's chest hurt. But he quickly ignored the feeling, the burn in his throat becoming overwhelming. He brought the tiny animal up to his mouth, sinking his teeth into its neck. The blood was sweet on his tongue, but it tasted worse than the fawn he had killed the day he woke up. 

As he drained the rabbit of its blood, the smell of smoke spread all over the forest. He furrowed his brows and released the rabbit, letting it fall to the ground with a soft thud. The scent was thick in the air and Junmyeon felt sick. Something felt really wrong, there was an uneasy feeling in his gut.

He swallowed, his tongue darting out to lick the blood from his lips. Then he turned back to the place where he had left his sire. 

The smoke was getting heavier as he got closer to the small glade where his sire was. It wasn't until the smoke mixed with the nasty, smell of burning flesh that panic began to rise inside Junmyeon. He sped up his pace, only to stop abruptly when he saw the flames. He stared wide eyed at the flames engulfing his sire's body. 

 

"Sire!" he screeched, his knees buckling under him. His sire. _His sire._

His chest felt weird, it hurt, it burned and his fingers grasped the flimsy fabric of his shirt, right over his heart. Why?! Who had done this? "Sire," he whispered, his chest heaving. It hurt so much. The invisible string in his chest made itself known once again but this time it felt like it was burning. 

"Oh look, is this the poor little progeny that Master talked about?" 

Junmyeon turned around, hand still fisted in his shirt and eyes wide. There were three creatures standing behind him. Two men and one woman. All of them had black eyes and dark hair and a very odd scent stuck to them as a coat. They smelt earthy, a little sour and a little bit stale, making Junmyeon scrunch his nose. They were dressed nicely he noted, all of them in black suits.

"My sire..." Junmyeon whispered, his voice and body shaking. Why did those people do this? 

“Our Master ordered us to burn his body,” the female cooed, approaching Junmyeon. She looked kind with her pretty face and soft, gentle smile on her lips. She reached out a hand to help Junmyeon up. Slowly Junmyeon's hand loosened its hold of his shirt and he reached out his hand to take the woman's. She gently helped him up on his legs, smile still present on her face. Standing up, Junmyeon realized that the woman was shorter than him, but the two men who stood a few meters away were probably taller. "Do you know what our Master also said?" the woman whispered, her fingers dancing over the skin on Junmyeon's left arm. 

 

 

Junmyeon swallowed hard, something uncomfortable stirring in his gut but he also felt a bit curious. He shook his head and a smirk spread over the woman's lips. She suddenly gripped Junmyeon's arms, rather hard, and Junmyeon widened his eyes. "He told us, that if you were still around, we would kill you in the most painful way," she whispered and twisted his arm, dislocating his shoulder with a snap. A painful scream left Junmyeon's lips and he tried to get away from the woman but she held onto him tightly. Her nails, which were sharp as claws, dug into his arm. A little blood seeped from his arm, the blood from the rabbit he had consumed not long ago.

Finally she let go and Junmyeon stumbled backwards, his right hand holding onto his left, dislocated shoulder. He stared at the woman, terrified. She was still smirking but now the men began to approach Junmyeon as well. 

"Don't worry little one," one of them cooed, his tone causing a shiver to travel up Junmyeon's spine. "Your death won't be that painful. Only one or two crushed bones, maybe a crushed skull because you know that won't kill you. Then we’ll start ripping your limbs, setting them on fire in front of you before ripping the next one."

Junmyeon didn't know what to do. He only had one idea in his head and that was to run. This would be his last chance. If he ran quickly enough, they would lose him.

The men were still slowly approaching Junmyeon, so he just stared at them for a second longer before suddenly spinning around and then, he ran.

 

 

-

 

 

Junmyeon looked around frantically, trying to make sure that he was alone. He couldn’t smell those odd, evil beings anymore but he still felt terrified. He didn’t want to die in their hands. He didn’t want to die in the way the creatures had spoken of. His shoulder still hurt but he could feel how it was already healing. His shoulder wasn’t really in the right place but it was healing. 

He could hear the sound of running water a bit ahead of him and something in his brain clicked. If he went through water, those beings wouldn’t be able to track him. He wasn’t really sure if that was really true, but it was like his body acted on it’s own and began to move towards the sound.

He blindly trusted his instinct. He needed to get away from those beings. He couldn't hear them nor smell them yet, much to his relief, but he didn’t want to risk anything. He rushed through the forest, almost tearing down a tree in his rush. His arm was hurting as he ran, the pain pounding in his shoulder.

 

He needed to get away from the forest.

 

He looked around again when he reached the small river. Still no one around. The forest was completely silent, except for some chirping birds. He looked at his shoulder, noticing how it looked a bit odd. He tried to stretch his arm but winced as pain shot through it.

He had to fix it before continuing. 

He pulled up the short sleeve of his tee and looked at the shoulder. His arm had been pulled forward, out of its socket and the skin was pulled taut, so taut that he could see the bone threatening to break the skin. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on it. He just had to pull his arm bone back. Gritting his teeth so he wouldn't scream, Junmyeon took one deep breath before pushing his bone back into place. 

_It hurt._ It hurt like hell but Junmyeon didn't scream. He couldn't let those beings know where he was.

 

He exhaled loudly, trying to collect himself before he looked back at the river again. If he crossed it, the scent trail would most likely disappear, wouldn't it?

The water was cold and reached to his mid-torso but the steam wasn't that bad at this spot so he could easily cross the wide river. Before stepping back up on land, he dived under the surface just to make sure that his scent washed off, at least a little.

He looked back before climbing up, relieved to see no one. 

As he continued to jog, he began to think. Where would he go now? He had no sire, no one to take care of him. He had no one to go to for help.

Where should he go?

Just then, the mouthwatering smell of blood traveled through the air. Junmyeon swallowed hard. This smelled so much better than the animals he had previously been drinking from. This smelt so much more delicious. He could already now tell that the source of this smell was far away but he had made up his mind of where he would go, for now.

 

 

-

 

 

After travelling for a few hours, Junmyeon reached the end of the forest. He was met with huge things that looked like they reached to the sky. Houses, buildings, something in the back of his head told him.

_It was a city._

The smell of blood was everywhere and Junmyeon felt his whole body numbing. It was like his body worked on its own. The sky was dark as he entered the city, he took a deep breath to see if there were anything he could eat around him. He could smell sweet blood of humans, _so lovely_ , from behind the walls and an irritation was building up inside him. He wanted the blood and he wanted it now.

"Excuse me?" a woman suddenly said and Junmyeon snapped out of his own thoughts. It was a younger woman with a healthy, strong heart beating inside her chest and Junmyeon licked his lips. "I'm looking for this address, could you help me?" The girl picked up a piece of paper from her pocket but Junmyeon paid that no mind. Instead he gripped the woman's head as soon as he was within reach and twisted it before the woman could utter a sound, successfully killing her on spot. The body fell limp against Junmyeon and he immediately tilted his head to the side, biting down on the woman's neck, where her pulse would have been as strongest. Her heart had stopped but the blood that hit Junmyeon's tongue was still warm.

 

This tasted way better than the animals that he had eaten before. So much better. It made Junmyeon's knees weak. He slowly bent his knees, lowering the body to the ground as he emptied it of blood. When he finally was satisfied, he let go of the body and straightened up, licking the remaining blood off his lips. 

He stared down at the body for a while, before stepping over it and walking deeper into the city. It still smelt wonderful, making his fingers itch, from every building the drumming of hearts was deafening in his ears. 

He continued walking the empty streets, not really minding where he went, until the smell of vampire reached his nose. He stopped abruptly and looked around, straining to hear as much as possible, trying to locate the vampire. The smell of blood and sound of beating hearts made his mind a mess and he just couldn't locate where the vampire was.

 

"What do we have here?" a voice said and Junmyeon spun around. The vampire stood a few meters behind him, a smirk on his face. He slowly walked closer to Junmyeon with his red eyes fixed on him. Junmyeon's body was frozen. He wanted to flee but he didn't want to know what would happen if he tried. The vampire grabbed his chin, tilting his head to the side. "A progeny I see," the vampire said, letting go of Junmyeon. "Where is your sire? Or madam?" he asked, eyeing Junmyeon from head to toe.

This vampire had an uneasy aura around him so Junmyeon just kept quiet, eyes fixed on him. His muscles were tense and he was prepared to turn around and run if needed.

"You don't have one... do you?" the vampire continued, smirk still on his face. "Let me give you a warning little one," the vampire cooed, leaning closer to Junmyeon's face. "Don't take any of our preys, got it? If we ever see you taking our humans, we will beat you, understand?" he hissed, his red eyes losing their playful gleam and Junmyeon just nodded, fear pounding in the back of his head. He heard steps approaching and he turned his head to the side. 

It was another vampire, this one with blue eyes and a very cute face. He looked kind; like someone Junmyeon could have made friends with, except for the fact that he was smirking. That made Junmyeon worry. 

 

"Stop teasing him Yoongi," the vampire said, chuckling after. "We have to find some food now," he continued and the red-eyed vampire finally backed off. He turned away from Junmyeon and the two of them began to leave, but before they left his field of view, the red eyes turned around again.

"Don't forget what I said."

Junmyeon nodded numbly, biting his lip as he did so and watched as the two of them disappeared. He anxiously looked around, scared that there might be more of them. He probably needed to get away. Continuing to follow the road, Junmyeon made his way through town. He didn't get off the road until he saw an alley with a pretty large dumpster. 

The buildings surrounding the alley were tall and there was a little space behind the dumpster. He would be able to hide there.

 

 

-

 

 

Junmyeon had listened to the vampire's threat and he was starving. His stomach was screaming and his throat burning. He fought hard not to leave his spot behind the dumpster. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to be tortured to death.

The alley he was hiding in was always empty; no humans ever went there. They only walked past but that was enough to make his mouth water and his mind scream at him.

"-I'm coming home a bit late," a male voice suddenly said. Junmyeon lifted his head. It was a human who had torn himself from the main road and was in the alley. "Yeah I'm going to the gym. Don't wait up," the man continued, walking into Junmyeon's field of vision. His heartbeat was driving Junmyeon mad and finally, the dam broke. He stood up and quickly approached the man, who frowned as soon as he saw him and brought his phone a bit away from his ear.

"Can I help you with anything?" he asked, sounding a bit concerned. Junmyeon could understand that because he probably looked like he needed a lot of help. He raised his hand and motioned for the man to follow him. The man furrowed his brows, clearly confused but he followed Junmyeon behind the dumpster. "Hey, there is a man that needs my help, I'll-" the man began but Junmyeon grabbed the man’s neck, smashing his face into the wall. The man dropped his phone to the ground, groaning loudly. Junmyeon took a hold on the man's head with both his hands and twisted his neck, killing him.

The body slumped on the ground and Junmyeon crouched down over it, biting down on the biggest vein in the neck. As he greedily sucked the body dry of blood, he could hear the voice in the cellphone fanatically calling for the now dead man.

"Hongbin?! Hongbin are you there? Are you oka-," Junmyeon grabbed the phone and smashed it to the ground, destroying it. The silence was nice. 

 

When he felt satisfied, he backed off the body. It felt nice to be full like this. He actually felt sort of happy. But the happiness faded quickly as he remembered the red-eyed vampire's threat. He had broken his rule.

_Shit._

Maybe they wouldn't be after him so quickly. Maybe it had just been an empty threat. 

So many maybe's passed through Junmyeon's mind that he wasn't aware of his surroundings. A hand grabbed his shirt and yanked him back, tearing his shirt a little. He flinched in fright and turned around. It was the red-eyed vampire again; his mind recalled the vampire being called Yoongi. But this time, six other vampires stood behind him.

"Didn't I warn you?" the vampire said, voice smooth as velvet but it still made Junmyeon shiver in fear. "Didn't I say that you weren't allowed to take any of _our_ humans?" Junmyeon nodded meekly, lowering his head. Maybe they would let him go if he showed that he didn't really mean it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice raspy from not using it for such a long time. 

The vampire snorted. "Makerless vampires," he said, more to the vampires behind him and all of them chuckled. 

 

"Can't keep in their lane," one of the vampires said and Junmyeon just wanted to leave the scene. He didn't mean to break the rule. "Makerless vampires should all get killed. It's better to rid the world of them."

Junmyeon's head snapped up. How would they kill him? Would it be as torturous as those black-eyed beings had said or were these vampires kinder?

"No," the first red-eyed one, Yoongi, said, raising his hand. "We're not going to kill him just yet," he continued and Junmyeon stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. "We're going to have some fun with you," he cooed, stroking his fingers along Junmyeon's jaw. "I'm looking forward to wrecking your pretty face. It pisses me off," and with that he grabbed Junmyeon's head, thumb pressing into Junmyeon's temple, and smashed his head against the wall.

Junmyeon could hear his skull crack and moaned in pain after the impact, closing his eyes. He had his back pressed against the wall and when Yoongi let go of his head, he just slid down the wall into a sitting position. 

"How did you like that?" Yoongi asked, humor in his voice and Junmyeon cracked his eyes open. His vision was a bit blurry but he could still see the smile on the vampire's lips. He noticed another vampire in his field of sight, this one with white hair and blue eyes. 

"Hello pretty one," the blue-eyed vampire said, leaning closer to Junmyeon. "My name is Namjoon," he continued and Junmyeon felt confused. Why was the vampire introducing himself? But he didn't have more time to question that before terrible pain coursed through his body. He stared wide-eyed at Namjoon then looking down on his leg where most of the pain came from. Namjoon had stepped on his leg, crushing the bone. 

 

"Why?" Junmyeon whispered, feeling his chest tightening. He could feel liquid drip from his eyes and he was about to dry it but Yoongi did it before him.

"Don't waste the precious blood you just stole from us," Yoongi cooed as he licked the crimson liquid off his fingers. He looked at Namjoon. "Now answer the little one's question."

"I was being polite and presented myself so you could do the same," Namjoon said, crouching down beside Junmyeon. "So what's your name pretty one?" he asked as he stroked his fingers over Junmyeon's cheek.

"J-Junmyeon," Junmyeon finally got out, the pain in his leg feeling almost unbearable.

"Junmyeon... I see," Namjoon said and both he and Yoongi suddenly backed off. Junmyeon felt both relieved and confused. What were they doing? Suddenly Namjoon waved to him. "See you tomorrow Junmyeonnie."

Then they were gone.

Junmyeon broke down, his body jolting with sobs. Everything hurt. He felt so scared and alone. What would happen now?

 

 

-

 

 

Junmyeon cowered in a corner behind a dumpster, his body jerking with each sob. He no longer had any blood left to cry, so his eyes stung as he cried without tears. Fear had set its claws in him and he wished that he would be left alone. He changed alleys last night so hopefully those vampires wouldn't find him.

His hands were shivering and vision a bit blurry. Probably because he didn't have much blood left in his system at all. His broken arm from last night was only healed halfway because of the lack of blood. Luckily, his leg from when Namjoon had stepped on it had healed so he could walk.

The sound of a door opening and someone stepping outside had Junmyeon holding his breath. He didn't really need to breathe anyway but somehow it felt natural, like a habit. It smelt like a vampire and that made Junmyeon close his eyes in fear. He didn't want to die.

"Hello?" a soft voice called out. It was a man, Junmyeon could hear that much. He did sound nice, but Junmyeon knew better than to be fooled. He pressed his back harder against the cold building, wishing that this vampire would just leave him be.

The dumpster creaked when the vampire opened it, tossing something inside and then closed it. After that, the alley became silent. No footsteps, no breathing, no moving. Everything was completely still and silent.

 

A light hit Junmyeon's face and he jumped in fright, a terrified squeak escaping his lips. His eyes snapped open, staring right into the light and he just felt so lost. Black spots were dotting his vision and he pressed himself even harder against the wall, whimpering. Hopefully this stranger would just ignore him and leave.

"Hey," the stranger said and lowered the light. Junmyeon still couldn't see him due to the spotting that clouded his vision so he stared right at what probably was the stranger's face. "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," the stranger almost cooed and Junmyeon turned his head to the side, blinking rapidly to get rid of the black spots.

When the black spots finally disappeared, Junmyeon braved himself and looked up at the stranger. He was pretty with dark brown hair and gentle, golden eyes. Had Junmyeon not heard him talking earlier, he might have mistaken him for a young boy. He stared at the vampire, eyes scanning every part of his face just to make sure he wasn't a threat.

 

"Calm down," he repeated and held up his open hands, showing Junmyeon that he held nothing threatening in them. Though that only made Junmyeon more worried because with nothing in his hands, the vampire could _easily_ tear him apart. "I promise I will not hurt you, okay?" Somehow, Junmyeon found himself nodding and relaxing. This vampire didn't seem as bad as the other vampires. Junmyeon flinched as the golden-eyed vampire tried to touch his jaw. "I'm just going to check your face, okay?" 

Slowly Junmyeon nodded, allowing the vampire to touch his face, tilting it to the sides. It was possible that the vampire were just checking on the scraping over his cheek, the one he received yesterday when a vampire dragged his face along the ground. It wasn't something Junmyeon really bothered, as the skin would be healed without a mark in one or two days, if he got some more blood into his system. 

"Where is your sire?" the golden-eyed vampire suddenly asked. Junmyeon furrowed his brows. Why would he want to know where his sire was? "Do you have a sire?" he continued and Junmyeon nodded. "What's his name?" All these questions made Junmyeon's head spin and he just shook his head, lowering his gaze. He didn't want to communicate with this vampire any longer. He could hear the vampire heaving a deep sigh, clearly expressing his annoyance with Junmyeon. 

To his surprise, the other vampire just stood up and left him alone in the alley. He leaned his head down, closing his eyes and letting the sound of footsteps walking away lull him into sleep.

 

Junmyeon was vaguely aware of his surroundings when a loud clank echoed through the alley. His vision had since long blurred completely and his head was spinning. He could hear loud footsteps approaching but he didn't have any energy left at all in his body. Even if every fiber in his body told him to flee, to run for his life, he simply didn't have the energy. He could barely keep his eyes open.

He could see the blurry outlines of two persons but he wasn't sure if they were human or vampires. His sense of smell was also wavering and he just felt dizzy trying to figure out what these two persons were. He could hear them murmur but he was already drifting off, eyes slowly falling shut. 

"Hey," it was the same voice as before... that golden-eyed vampire. Junmyeon heaved a sigh, feeling his whole body slump against the wall. He could hear the vampire call him again but he didn't have the ability to react. He felt as if he was slowly fading. 

It felt weird, as his ears began to ring and darkness surrounded him completely. But it didn't feel too bad. He felt light. He felt no pain.

The ringing in his ears was still really annoying but he tried not to think about it too much. He was finally feeling peace and the ringing was only a minor thing.

 

Softness was suddenly surrounding him and Junmyeon tried to open his eyes, to see what was happening around him. But he couldn't seem to open them at all. An uneasy feeling chewed on his gut. What was going on?

Something wet touched his lips, followed by the feeling of fingers touching his cheek. The numbness he had felt earlier dissolved and he felt something tip his head backward, forcing him to swallow what had touched his lips earlier. 

The ringing in his ears slowly died down, much to his relief but soon mumbles were all that filled his ears. He groaned, hearing the muffled sound of his own groan and tried to open his eyes again. _Nothing._

 

Why couldn't he open his eyes?

 

Was he dead?

 

He tried to move, flexing his hands. Slowly feeling came back to him and he felt his hands move, touching something warm and soft. The mumbling in his ears became louder and he tried wiggling his toes, feeling them move against something soft.

Finally he opened his eyes, blinking violently. Black dots clouded his vision but as he continued to blink, they became smaller and smaller.

 

_He wasn't dead._

 

When he was fully aware of everything, he tried to sit up. His body hurt, which felt very odd but he didn't think much about it. As he looked around the room he was in, he smacked his lips and realized that a slightly sour taste lingered on his tongue. He had tasted this before, it was blood but he couldn't recall drinking any blood for a very long time.

 

"How are you feeling?" a voice broke Junmyeon's train of thought and he snapped his head around, staring at the person sitting beside his bed. It was the pretty golden-eyed vampire from before. Panic was rising inside Junmyeon and, as the other vampire stood up, Junmyeon quickly scrambled off the bed, falling to the floor with a thud. 

The vampire looked worried, his brows furrowed, but he stood completely still, giving Junmyeon time to calm down. Junmyeon's eyes flickered all over the room, trying to find another vampire. His senses were all messed up and he could feel his ears starting to ring again.

Suddenly the door to the room opened. Junmyeon turned his head to the door, staring wide-eyed at the man who entered the room. Fear was pounding in his head and his vision began to blur at the edges.

 

"Luhan," the man said, his voice like smooth butter in Junmyeon's ringing ears. He was looking straight at Junmyeon, gaze cold, and Junmyeon felt a shiver travel up his spine. "Give him some more blood," he continued and Junmyeon's eyes anxiously flickered over to the other vampire, Luhan, who was watching him intensely as he stood up. He was holding something in his hand, but Junmyeon's nose felt like it was stuffed and his vision seemed to be even worse now so he couldn't wrap his head around what it was.

"Calm down," Luhan said to him, voice low and soothing. He crouched down beside Junmyeon and gently raised the object in his hand to Junmyeon's face. His free hand gripped Junmyeon's jaw and placed the object, that seemed to be a glass, against Junmyeon's lips. Junmyeon still stared at him, too afraid to even move. The glass was tilted upwards and some liquid slipped past Junmyeon's lips. It tasted somewhat like a mix between sweet and sour, quite nice actually, and Junmyeon parted his lips a little more to get more of the blood, greedily swallowing. 

"Good," the man, who Junmyeon now could make out was a vampire, said when Luhan took the glass away from Junmyeon's lips. "Could you move back to the bed?" he asked, voice gentle but with an underlying tone of authority. Junmyeon nodded and slowly stood up, moving back to the bed. He looked down on himself as he crawled back in bed, noticing he was completely naked. When he was back in bed, he looked around the room trying to find his own clothes.

 

"We threw your clothes away," Luhan gently said. Junmyeon looked up at him, nodding slowly. "I'm sorry I scared you earlier. I'm Luhan," he continued, gentle smile on his lips. Junmyeon nodded again, a small, awkward smile on his own. He turned his head to the man in the door, who now had walked closer to the bed. He was absolutely stunning, short light brown hair and a pair of piercing blue eyes. Junmyeon itched to ask him who he was, but he held his tongue.

"I'm the master of the house," he said, looking down on Junmyeon who immediately nodded. This man oozed of authority and Junmyeon knew it would be stupid to get on the wrong side of him. "I have gotten you some new clothes, so please wear them when you leave the room."

Junmyeon nodded, eyes flickering towards the armchair the Master motioned towards. On the chair laid a pile of clothes, neatly folded.

"I would like to know your name," he said and Junmyeon's eyes flickered back to the Master's face. He still held his tongue and lowered his head. Then a hand grabbed his jaw and tilted his head up. Junmyeon widened his eyes, staring into the Master's eyes. "Your name," he repeated, calmly but his voice made Junmyeon tremble. When he didn't answer right away, the Master's grip on his jaw tightened to the point where it became painful.

 

"J-Junmyeon," he finally whispered, voice wavering. The Master smiled and let go of Junmyeon's jaw, backing up a few steps.

 

"That wasn't that hard, was it?" he asked, a small smile spreading over his lips. He looked really gentle right now. Junmyeon looked down at his lap again. "It's good to see you awake but I have to leave now," he continued and Junmyeon glanced up at him through his eyelashes, nodding slightly. "When you feel better, Luhan will show you around the house."

Junmyeon watched as the Master of the house left the room again before moving his gaze to Luhan. The golden-eyed vampire was wearing a gentle smile but it didn't really help Junmyeon to keep down the panic that was rising in his chest. He was defenseless against this vampire.

"I won't hurt you," Luhan said, voice soft as he broke the silence. Junmyeon eyed him closely but slowly nodded. "I promise," he continued and Junmyeon felt himself relax a little. Maybe Luhan didn't want to kill him. _Yet._

 

Luhan smiled, eyes crinkling and teeth showing. Junmyeon could see his fangs clearly but he tried to remind himself that Luhan said he wasn't going to hurt him.

"I will leave you alone for now," he continued, still smiling. "I will be back with some dinner for you later."

Junmyeon didn't react at all. He just kept his gaze locked at Luhan as the vampire left the room, closing the door behind him. Junmyeon stared intensely at the door, almost expecting another vampire to walk through it. But nothing happened.

He couldn’t hear anyone walking outside his room, so he exhaled loudly in relief. The room was peaceful. He didn’t have to worry about anyone killing him.

 

He looked around the room, taking in all the details. All but one of the walls in the room, the wall right in front of Junmyeon and the bed, were painted white. That one was dark gray with swirls of gold. It looked kind of pretty.

 

In the room stood a very basic bed, the one that Junmyeon was currently sitting in, with all white sheets. White seemed to be a really bad color, Junmyeon noted as he spotted some dark red stains on the sheets. It was most likely blood.

Beside the bed was an armchair that Luhan had sat in earlier and a white nightstand with two drawers. Junmyeon leaned over to it, pulling out the upper drawer. There were a few books lying neatly stacked on top of each other. Junmyeon pushed it back in and looked up again, eyes falling on the two other armchairs in the room. They stood in the corner opposite of him with a little table in between.

There were also two other doors in the room, not counting the door that seemed to lead out of the room. Curiosity was itching in Junmyeon's fingers and he slowly stood up, taking careful and shaky steps towards one of the doors. 

 

He grabbed the handle, ignoring how cold it was against his palm and pushed the door open. The room behind the door was fairly small with racks and shelves around the walls. It looked like an empty walk in closet. He knitted his brows together as he closed the door again and turned to the other door.

Behind that door was a bathroom; a rather big one and Junmyeon slowly stepped inside. The floor tiles were black while the walls were white. It contained a toilet, a sink and a big bathtub. Above the sink was a mirror and Junmyeon slowly approached it, lowering his head a little. He didn't actually know how he looked, apart from that vague mirror image he had seen in the water.

 

A pair of dark red eyes stared back at him as he took in his appearance. His blond hair was oily and rather long. His skin was pale but cheeks a bit rosy due to the blood he consumed not long ago, and void of any blemishes. When he turned his head a little, he spotted two small dots on his neck. On closer inspection, he realized that they were scars from his sire’s teeth. He ghosted his fingers over his neck, a warm and safe feeling engulfing him. At least he had something to remind him of his sire.

He stared into the mirror for a long time, pink lips parted as he did so. But then he finally tore his gaze away and went back to the room, closing the door after him. He looked down on the folded clothes on the armchair and leaned down to pick them up. It was just a pair of black briefs, jeans and a simple, white shirt.

He probably should get dressed.

As he got dressed, he continued to look around the room and listen to the sounds from outside. Footsteps were heard every now and then, but none approached his door. He looked around the room once again before heading to one of the corners of the room, sitting down and drawing his knees up under his chin. 

He didn’t feel safe here.

 

 

-

 

 

The first day Junmyeon was out of bed and up on his feet for real, Luhan came in his fancy suit to give him a tour around the house, even though Junmyeon still felt unsafe in the house. It felt odd to be inside a house, walking around with slippers on his feet. He noticed that the servants and maids in the house that were dressed in black and white sent him weird glances when he passed, but he didn't really mind them. They smelled quite weird, stale, but Junmyeon recognized the smell. They smelled the same as those three beings that had burned his sire to ashes.

Fear crept up on him, cold as ice and he couldn’t help but shiver. These beings meant danger.

"Here's one the living rooms," Luhan said, breaking Junmyeon's train of thought. He blinked rapidly as he came back to reality. The living room was quite spacey with two huge couches facing each other and a table in between. In the living room were three other vampires who were a bit more casual than Luhan with just simple shirts and jeans. They also didn't look as stiff as those beings dressed in black and white.

"Luhan!" the tallest, blond vampire exclaimed as he stood up. He had sharp golden eyes, which looked like molten gold just like Luhan's, and sharp overall features. He was very handsome. There was a certain aura surrounding him, causing Junmyeon to cower a little. But something made him seem... like he was like Junmyeon. As the vampire approached them and stopped beside Luhan, Junmyeon’s eyes fell on his neck and he could see the two small scars made by sharp teeth.

 

_This was Luhan's progeny._

 

Junmyeon eyed the vampire warily. He seemed so different from Junmyeon himself. He seemed so carefree. Was it okay for progenies to act like this? Luhan laughed as the vampire clung to him, offering him a hug. 

"Luhan," the vampire whispered, loud enough for every vampire to hear, nose pressed into Luhan's neck and lips ghosting over the pale skin. He was eyeing Junmyeon through half-lidded eyes. "Is this him?" he continued, as if Luhan had spoken of Junmyeon before. Luhan hummed, eyes set on Junmyeon as the other vampire pressed a kiss against his neck. "What's his name?"

"Junmyeon," Luhan said and Junmyeon let a little snarl pass his lips. He didn't like Luhan saying his name. His tiny snarl was replied with a louder one from Luhan's spawn and a hand was wrapped around his neck.

"If you ever as much as glare at _my_ sire," he hissed, emphasizing the word 'my', "I swear I will break you," he finished, golden eyes bored into Junmyeon's before he let go. 

"Zitao," Luhan said softly, placing his hand on the vampire's head, carding his fingers through the blond hair. "It's okay."

"It's not," the vampire, Zitao, growled lowly, sounding like a sulking kid as he pressed himself against Luhan again, still eyeing Junmyeon warily. He didn't look happy.

 

"Junmyeon," Luhan said and Junmyeon's gaze turned to him, holding back the growl this time. "This is Zitao," he introduced, gesturing his hand to the vampire. "He's one of my progenies," he continued and Junmyeon frowned. He had more than one?

 

"And I'm Baekhyun!" another, very cheerful person, said and approached Junmyeon, holding out his hand. Junmyeon quickly backed a few steps, eyeing the outstretched hand before looking up at the male, unsure of what he wanted. Baekhyun stared back at him, looking equally confused. As Junmyeon stared, he noted how pretty he was. He was even prettier than Luhan, with soft, golden blond hair, Kohl lined, almost glowing yellow eyes and small, pink lips.

"Calm down, Baek," Luhan said, voice really calm and the vampire nodded, pulling his hand back. "He's a bit jittery," he continued and Junmyeon furrowed his brows. He took a deep breath, realizing that this Baekhyun didn’t actually smell like a vampire. Junmyeon couldn’t place his finger at it. He smelled like faintly like a vampire but there was this smell that resembled those wolf-beasts he had encountered in the woods. 

 

"I noticed," Baekhyun noted, just as yet, another vampire joined his side. This one was about as tall as Baekhyun, but with sharper jaw and cheekbones and reddish brown hair.

"Junmyeon was it?" he asked, red eyes shining with curiosity. He looked quite friendly, Junmyeon thought, his eyes falling down on the vampire's lips, noting how the corners curled upwards in a small smirk. "Nice to meet you, I'm Jongdae," he continued and Junmyeon nodded, pressing his lips together. 

"Only Minseok got him to speak," Luhan said as both Baekhyun and Jongdae eyed Junmyeon with curious eyes. Of course Junmyeon had only spoken when the Master of the house had asked him to. 

"I see," Jongdae said, nodding his head but still smiling. "How long has he been here?" he turned to Luhan who glanced back at Junmyeon.

"Around a week," he answered, turning back to Jongdae. "But I think we should move on now," he continued, gently prying Zitao off of him. "We need to see the rest of the house."

 

Zitao reluctantly moved away from Luhan's side, sending Junmyeon a dirty glare. Junmyeon lowered his head, trying to avoid the glare as much as possible and followed Luhan out of the living room.

"I'm sorry about Zitao," he said as they began to walk down a corridor but Junmyeon just shook his head. He could understand Zitao. He was just an outsider who hissed at someone who had taken care of him. He had been really ungrateful. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered just as Luhan stopped abruptly.

"Don't worry," Luhan said, reaching out to ruffle Junmyeon's hair. Junmyeon let him, as he had realized that maybe Luhan was okay. Maybe he wasn't going to kill him. Junmyeon had been acting really badly so he wouldn't hiss at Luhan again. Luhan chuckled and pulled his hand back, motioning to the room on their right. It was big and spacey, with a few chairs and a table. "This is Minseok's workspace, most of the time," he said and Junmyeon nodded, brows knitted together. 

 

What was the Master working as? 

Junmyeon bit his lip as his eyes flickered to Luhan, he was really curious but he didn’t dare to ask. 

Luhan smiled again and closed the door before continued down the hall. At the end of the hall, was a huge ballroom. The floor was golden and white while the walls were a darker brown with huge windows and white curtains. In one of the corners, a huge, white grand piano stood. It was probably just for decoration. 

“Here’s where Minseok hold his parties,” Luhan explained and Junmyeon nodded. It made sense. But why would he even hold parties? “Minseok is a part of a big family and he has to hold parties to keep the social bonds between the families.”

 

Junmyeon nodded again, his curiosity about the Master’s work still not satisfied but he got to know a little at least. As the ballroom was empty and not that interesting, they didn’t linger for long but went upstairs instead. Beside Junmyeon’s room, Luhan and his progenies had their room. There were a few more bedrooms for the servants and guests along that corridor but in the middle of it all was Minseok’s room. There was a silver plate with his name on it nailed to the dark, oak door. 

“Down there you have a library,” Luhan said, pointing down the corridor and Junmyeon nodded, looking at the door in the very end. “But you’ll have time to go there and really look at it later,” he continued and turned around, walking the opposite direction.

There was also another living room on the second floor, a bit smaller than the one downstairs but still pretty big. The white couches, armchairs and carpets were all very inappropriate in Junmyeon’s opinion. What if they spilled blood on it?

But he never voiced his concern, he just allowed Luhan to show him the rest of the house.

 

 

-

 

 

Junmyeon felt safer inside the room he had been granted by the Master of the house. It smelled like the Master, enveloping Junmyeon in a sense of safety. He spent most of the evening in a corner of the room, playing with a wire to a lamp. At first, he just pulled it out of the wall only to plug it in again. But he slowly got bored with that and pulled it out of the wall, trying to chew on it.

It didn't really taste good but it relieved some of Junmyeon's boredom.

 

He could hear people walk back and forth in front of his door. He didn't bother them much but, around the time when the sun had begun to set, someone gripped the door handle and pushed the door open. Junmyeon quickly dropped the lamp wire and lowered his head, back pressing firmer against the wall.

"Hi," a gentle voice said and Junmyeon looked up. It was another blond vampire with golden eyes, dimples deep in his cheeks as he smiled at Junmyeon. The scent of blood, human blood, was heavy in the air and Junmyeon could feel his whole body trembling. He needed the blood, he needed it _so bad_. "I got some blood for you," the vampire continued as he crouched down in front of Junmyeon, holding out a small plastic bag with red liquid. "It's-"

 

He didn't even finish the sentence before Junmyeon snatched the plastic bag out of the vampire's hands, clumsily tearing it open with his teeth. The liquid spilled on his chest, lips and some in his mouth. 

_Human_ blood. His whole being buzzed in delight. It tasted just as wonderful as his first human victim had tasted. It wasn't as warm as it had been but that didn't really bother him. 

When he had licked the bag clean of blood, he finally got back to his senses and looked down on himself. He had gotten blood all over his shirt... the white shirt that the Master of the house had given him, and on the carpet. 

Terrified, he looked up on the vampire who had delivered the blood, preparing himself for some sort of punishment. But to his surprise, the golden-eyed vampire just laughed, sound ringing soft in Junmyeon's ears. 

 

"You're a messy one," he commented, reaching out a hand to gently pet Junmyeon's head. In his shock, Junmyeon just let him do it without protesting. "I don't think you'll be that popular with Minseok," he continued, chuckling as if he just told a joke but Junmyeon whimpered and lowered his head. He didn't want the Master to be angry with him. The vampire then stuffed his hand inside his pocket, still looking at Junmyeon. Junmyeon could feel his eyes on him and pressed himself against the wall. He would be punished. 

 

He wasn't.

 

Instead, the vampire began to clean his face with a handkerchief. Junmyeon raised his eyes, staring wide-eyed at the gentle vampire.

"Don't worry," he said slowly, drying the blood of Junmyeon's chin. "We can go to the bathroom later to clean the blood off completely and I’ll get you a new shirt. Don't worry."

This vampire was the first one that Junmyeon wanted to talk to. He wanted to ask a lot of questions to this vampire. 

 

"I'm Yixing," the vampire said, answering one of Junmyeon's unspoken questions. "I'm one of Luhan's progenies," he continued and Junmyeon nodded, lips parting a little. Now when looking at him, he noted that Yixing's eyes indeed had the same shade of gold as Luhan's. "Your name is Junmyeon, right?"

At least Yixing had asked, so it didn't really feel wrong when he said his name. Junmyeon slowly nodded feeling a small smile tug on his lips when Yixing smiled again.

 

Junmyeon swallowed, a question resting on the tip of his tongue. He didn't know if he should speak, but he wanted an answer and maybe asking Yixing would be okay. "Why..." he began slowly, clearing his throat. It felt unusual to speak. "Why are you so nice to me?" he asked quietly, voice barely a whisper but he knew that Yixing could hear him.

Yixing hummed, smile still on his lips before he spoke. "I have never lost a sire, and I imagine that I can never fully understand how hard it must have been. I can only try and understand just how painful it must have been for you," he said and slowly he moved to sit down beside Junmyeon. "I imagine life has not been very kind to you, so I want to be nice to you."

When Junmyeon had asked the question, he hadn't expected an answer like that. His whole body felt warm with happiness. 

"Thank you..." he whispered, fiddling nervously with his fingers. Yixing only hummed and when Junmyeon glanced to his side, he could see a small smile on Yixing's lips. He could feel a smile appear on his own lips and he looked down on his hands, continuing to sit beside Yixing in comfortable silence.


	2. Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junmyeon wakes up alone in a new world.

Junmyeon had been a bit confused when Yixing had walked into his room, telling him the Master of the house wanted to see him. He had quickly changed into the dress shirt that Luhan had gifted him the previous night and followed Yixing.

There were some whispers from the black-eyed servants but Junmyeon did his best to ignore their whispers and their sharp, black eyes on him the best he could. During his stay here, he had learned that what the servants whispered about him were all but nice things. They whispered things about him having no control and about his sire abandoning him.

Junmyeon had to swallow, closing his fists in anger to not lose it. His sire never abandoned him. His sire had wanted him, that's why he was created. His sire had no choice but to leave him.

 

"-nmyeon," Yixing's voice broke the spell. Junmyeon blinked a couple of times, looking up at him. “We’re here,” he motioned to the dark door. Junmyeon nodded, licking his lips nervously. “Don’t be nervous,” he said and patted Junmyeon’s shoulder. “Minseok is very nice, I promise.”

Junmyeon took a deep breath and placed his hand on the door handle.

“Oh, and Junmyeon,” Yixing stopped him before he pushed the door open. "Come down to the living room later. Luhan wanted to introduce you to some people," he said and patted Junmyeon's shoulder. Junmyeon nodded again and turned his gaze back to the door, pushing it open.

The Master's room was a lot darker than Junmyeon's. The walls were all gray minus one. The odd wall was dark purple with silver swirls. There was a big bed standing almost in the middle of the room, white bed covers stark against the dark wood frame of the bed.

"Ah, Junmyeon," the Master exclaimed as soon as he spotted Junmyeon. He was standing in the middle of his room with another man. This man had dark brown hair and black eyes, the same as the servants and he shared their terrifying, stale scent as well. "It's nice to see you on your feet," he continued, motioning for Junmyeon to come closer. Slowly Junmyeon approached, eyeing the black-eyed man carefully. "This is Kyungsoo," the Master continued, smile on his face and patted the man on his shoulder. "If you just come here, he's going to measure you."

Measure? Junmyeon frowned but he did as told. He stopped where the Master had shown him and his eyes fell on Kyungsoo's hand, noticing that he held a measuring tape in his hand.

“Hold out your arms,” Kyungsoo instructed, voice monotone and Junmyeon immediately did as told. He continued to measure Junmyeon and Junmyeon just stood completely still, only moving when Kyungsoo told him to. The Master was standing in front of him and Junmyeon wanted to ask why he was getting measured but he didn’t dare to. Instead, he kept his gaze fixed on one of the gray walls as he continued to follow Kyungsoo's instructions.

"It's going to look good in the end," the Master suddenly said and Junmyeon looked at him, eyes wide. What was going to look good?

"What color do you want it?" Kyungsoo asked and Junmyeon turned his head to look at him. 

"The same colors as mine, it needs to match."

What needed to match? Junmyeon looked back at the Master, feeling really confused. Curiosity was itching in his whole being but he held his tongue. He didn't dare to ask. 

“It’s for a party,” the Master suddenly said and Junmyeon blinked before slowly nodding. “It’s in a couple of weeks but we need to get you a suit.”

“Why?” Junmyeon asked, voice quiet. He was really curious why he was even considered in joining the party.

“I can’t have you linger around the house,” the Master replied. “I require everyone in my house to be present at my parties.”

Junmyeon decided to not push the matter further and only nodded, pressing his lips together.

 

 

-

 

 

After meeting the Master of the house, Junmyeon had quietly slipped back to his room. He had clearly heard the commotion from downstairs and he really didn't want to join them. Zitao would most likely be there and he might not like Junmyeon being present. It was quite obvious how much he disliked Junmyeon.

But of course, Luhan had sent for a servant to get him downstairs. 

He had changed from that stiff dress shirt to a gray, soft t-shirt that smelled like the Master himself. The maid that had knocked on his door had tried to get him to change back to the dress shirt but Junmyeon refused, just shaking his head every time she tried. At last she had just sighed loudly and instructed him that he needed to be downstairs.

When she left the room, Junmyeon quietly followed her, tiptoeing down the stairs on bare feet. 

He could smell at least seven vampires in the living room, Zitao among them and he really wanted to leave them alone. But just as he was about to turn around and go up the stairs again, Yixing's head peeked out from the living room, a wide smile on his face.

 

"Junmyeon!" he exclaimed. Junmyeon nodded, walking down the stairs and entered the living room, walking right behind Yixing. There were a lot of people in the living room and Junmyeon immediately felt threatened. There were three vampires he didn’t recognize, all eyeing him closely. It didn't feel good. 

“Hello,” one of the unknown vampires said and stood up from the couch, holding out a hand towards Junmyeon. Junmyeon immediately cowered behind Yixing, hands gripping Yixing’s suit jacket. “Oh,” the vampire drew back, looking a bit disappointed. 

“You’re scaring him,” Yixing said, glancing back at Junmyeon. “Junmyeon, this is Yifan. He’s also my brother,” he explained and Junmyeon nodded, peeking up at Yifan. He was really tall, handsome as well. He also possessed short blond hair, as Luhan and the other progenies, and sharp golden eyes. Slowly Junmyeon let go of Yixing’s jacket and gave Yifan a little wave.

"You're cute," Yifan commented and Junmyeon furrowed his brows. "I'm sorry I scared you," he apologized, smiling a little at Junmyeon. Junmyeon only nodded before his gaze fell on the other vampires in the room. Zitao was sitting on one of the couches, eyeing Junmyeon closely. Beside him sat Luhan, hand resting on Zitao’s thigh. 

"Stop bothering him Yifan," Luhan said and Yifan immediately nodded, returning back to stand behind Luhan. "Junmyeon, let me introduce you to Jongin," he motioned to one of the unknown vampires who sat on the couch facing Luhan. Beside him sat another unknown vampire, holding Jongin's hand and on the other side sat Jongdae. "He's Jongdae's brother and they're the ones training all the servants for Minseok."

 

Why Junmyeon should know that was beyond him but he just shrugged it off and nodded anyway. 

 

"Then you have Sehun beside him, Jongin's progeny," Luhan continued and Junmyeon's eyes shifted to the vampire holding Jongin's hand. Both he, Jongin and Jongdae had red eyes, the same shade as Junmyeon. Sehun looked a bit bored but when he looked at Junmyeon, he smiled a little. That made Junmyeon feel much better.

"Let's sit down and talk for a while, yes?" Yixing suggested, grabbing Junmyeon's wrists gently and pulled him towards the couches. 

Junmyeon nodded, a small smile on his lips as he felt a bit more secure in the room. "Yes," he whispered, even letting out a chuckle when a wide smile spread over Yixing's lips.

 

 

-

 

 

"Hey." Zitao's soft voice made Junmyeon drop the wire he was previously chewing on. He had developed a very bad habit of chewing on the wires and he was honestly worried about the other vampires’ reaction to that. "Can I come in?" he asked through the door and Junmyeon hummed, nodding his head even though Zitao couldn't see him.

The door was pushed open as Zitao entered. Junmyeon slowly stood up, eyeing Zitao warily. 

"I just wanted to talk," Zitao said, raising both his hands to show Junmyeon that he didn't hold anything in them. But it didn't really calm Junmyeon down. "Is it okay?"

Just talking would be fine... talking never killed someone, so Junmyeon nodded, still sitting on the floor. Slowly, Zitao walked closer and motioned to the bed.

"Can I sit?" he asked quietly and Junmyeon nodded, looking down at his hands. The bed creaked when Zitao sat down and the room became silent. Junmyeon fiddled with the wire, running his fingers over the bite marks, glancing up at Zitao every now and then. The other vampire was nervously playing with the hem of his shirt, not looking like he would start a conversation.

"I'm sorry," he finally said and Junmyeon snapped his head up, staring at him with wide eyes. "I'm sorry that I threatened you," he continued, still not looking up from his hands. "I'm sure you understand because when someone hisses at your sire you..." he trailed off and Junmyeon felt a pang in his heart. No, he didn't understand. He didn't know how it felt when someone hissed at his sire. He could imagine, but never understand. 

 

Because his sire was _dead_.

 

As if Zitao realized what he just said, he snapped his head up and stared at Junmyeon with an almost terrified gaze. "I'm so sorry!" he said, panic lacing his voice but Junmyeon just shook his head. He liked to pretend it didn’t bother him because he knew his sire was dead. He knew he was only trash compared to other progenies. He was aware that no one actually wanted him. 

“I didn’t mean it…” Zitao continued, voice barely a whisper. Junmyeon lowered his head and just ignored the other vampire. It was no use.

“Why am I here?” he whispered, voice just as quiet as Zitao’s. “Obviously I’m worthless, so why am I here?” he asked, a soulless laugh leaving his mouth. 

“That’s not really true,” Zitao pointed out and Junmyeon raised his head, eyes widening. “No one here thinks you’re worthless, except maybe the upirs but they’re assholes anyway. Luhan likes you, even if you hissed at him. He talks a lot about you,” he continued and a little jealousy danced through his golden eyes. “I’m jealous.” A small smile made its way to his lips and Junmyeon returned it, corners of his mouth turning upwards.

"But..."

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone this,” Zitao lowered his voice to merely a whisper, something that would have gone unheard by the human ear. “But I’ll tell you anyway,” he continued and Junmyeon nodded. “Minseok had a progeny before,” Zitao said, his voice thick with sadness. 

“Had?” Junmyeon asked.

“His progeny was killed,” Zitao continued and Junmyeon swallowed hard. He wanted to ask why, how and who killed Minseok’s progeny, but he held his tongue. There were so many questions spinning in his head. Did Minseok feel the same as Junmyeon? Did he also feel that gaping hole in his chest?

But most of all, did Minseok only keep him here as a substitute?

 

 

-

 

 

Junmyeon fiddled nervously with his fingers as he stood outside the Master's bedroom. A servant had informed him that the Master had requested his presence so here he was. Worry was gnawing at his gut. He didn't know what the Master wanted with him.

"Enter," the sharp voice made Junmyeon flinch. He exhaled before slowly pushing the oak door open. 

"Master," he whispered, voice raspy. The Master was sitting in a chair, one arm on the armrest and a glass of what smelled like blood in his other hand. The need in Junmyeon's veins burned. He had to summon all his self-control not to take the blood from the Master’s hands. He would most likely be punished if he did.

"Sit," he instructed, voice so soft that Junmyeon couldn't help but relax. But sitting down in the chair that the Master motioned to would mean that he would be closer to the blood. Just to control himself, Junmyeon stopped breathing before sitting down in the chair beside. "You look tense," the Master continued, a smile on his lips. He looked kind, with his wide smile and eyes crinkled up to crescent moons. Then he stood up, just beside Junmyeon and placed his free hand on Junmyeon's jaw, tilting his head up. 

"Take a deep breath," the Master said, his voice still gentle but firm, giving Junmyeon the feeling that he couldn't ignore the demand. He sucked a deep breath; the scent of blood invading his nose and his whole body began to shake. He needed it so bad. He could hear the Master chuckle and he was vaguely aware of the hand on his jaw being removed. His eyes just flickered around the room, anywhere but at the Master himself. 

Suddenly two blood-covered fingers were pressed against his bottom lip and he fixed his eyes on the Master instead.

"M-master," he stuttered, his tongue darting out to lick the blood off his lips. 

"Minseok," the older vampire said, bringing his hand back from Junmyeon's lips. "If you call me Minseok," he raised the glass of blood, chuckling when Junmyeon swallowed hard, hands gripping the armrest tight. "I will give you some."

"Minseok," the name escaped Junmyeon's parted lips like a whisper and Minseok smiled, placing his hand on Junmyeon's jaw again before bringing the glass to his lips.

"Slowly," he instructed as he tilted the glass, allowing Junmyeon to drink the red liquid. This blood didn't taste like the blood Junmyeon had drunk before; it tasted a bit more bittersweet. He wanted to grimace at the taste, but Minseok had been kind enough to give him human blood. 

The glass quickly became empty and Minseok tilted it back, eyes fixed on Junmyeon who nervously averted his eyes.

"It's O minus," Minseok suddenly said, stroking his thumb against Junmyeon's cheekbone. "Did you like it?"

Junmyeon's eyes flickered back to Minseok's face. Minseok raised an eyebrow, as if he expected an answer. "It's... bittersweet," he answered, biting his bottom lip as Minseok chuckled.

"Not your taste then," he said, withdrawing from Junmyeon and sat back in his chair, placing the glass to the side. He crossed his legs as he leaned back, eyes fixed on Junmyeon. "How are you liking your stay here?" 

"Good," Junmyeon whispered, raising one hand to wipe the blood away from his lips. 

 

"Ah that's good," Minseok hummed, nodding his head a little. "Have the upirs informed you about tomorrow?" he asked. Upirs? Junmyeon frowned at that word, trying to understand what Minseok said. He didn't know what upirs were.

"Ah of course," Minseok said, leaning forward a little. "Upirs, the servants."

Oh, so that was what the servants were, they were not vampires. That also explained their weird smell. Junmyeon didn't really know many creatures. He only knew about what he himself was. But he did feel a bit curious, so he leaned forward, blinking at Minseok with wide eyes. 

"There will be a party here tomorrow. The suit will be in your room and you should wear it tomorrow after four," he continued and Junmyeon leaned back again, a bit disappointed that he didn't talk more about the servants. But Minseok, who seemed to possess a set of very sharp eyes, chuckled. "If you want to know more about upirs, you are allowed to go to the library. You're able to read, right?"

Junmyeon nodded. He knew how to read; he had been reading a book called Le Petite Prince that had been lying in the drawer of the nightstand to pass time. 

“Do you enjoy reading?” Minseok asked, continuing with the questions. 

“Yes…” Junmyeon finally replied. He guessed that Minseok was out for some verbal response from Junmyeon, with all the questions, and he didn’t want Minseok to become angry with him. “It’s a nice hobby to pass time.”

“It is,” Minseok nodded, reaching out for his glass. “I’ll give you some of my favorite books later. Which ones have you read?”

“Only one…” Minseok nodded, looking like he was urging Junmyeon to continue talking. “Le Petite Prince,” Junmyeon was sure he pronounced the name of the book wrong, but at least Minseok smiled. It made Junmyeon feel a bit happy, to be able to make Minseok smile. 

 

They fell into a conversation about just that book, as it turned out to be Minseok’s favorite book. 

 

"Well then," Minseok said, ending their conversation, and stood up. Junmyeon quickly followed, not wanting to disrespect Minseok in any way. "I have some things to attend to. Just go out the door and to the left, you will find the library quite easily. If you can't, don't hesitate to ask someone," he continued and approached the door, Junmyeon right behind. He opened the door for Junmyeon, smile still on his face.

Junmyeon stared at Minseok wide eyed, before nodding and slowly walking out the door. He didn't really understand the meaning of meeting with Minseok but he shrugged it off. As soon as the door closed behind him, he looked around the empty corridor. He could smell the lingering scent of a servant, an upir, but that trail led to the right. Minseok had told him to go left.

 

 

The corridor ahead was quiet and dimly lit, no more doors except the dark oak door that waited in the end of it. A silver nameplate with the word 'library' adored the door and Junmyeon swallowed before he twisted the door handle, pushing the heavy door open.

Minseok's library was enormous, full of tall wooden shelves filled with books almost reaching all the way to the ceiling. Junmyeon gaped, this was amazing. 

But how would he be able to find a book about upirs here? He didn't even want to imagine the amount of books in this room. 

Well, he thought for himself. He could at least look around a little. Even if he didn't find something about the upirs, he would maybe find something that catches his interest. 

Most of the books were leather bound and smelled really good. If Minseok allowed him to, he would love to come back here more often. He smiled as he ran his fingers over the back of a book, enjoying the feeling of rough leather under his fingers. 

"Lord of the rings," he whispered to himself, carefully taking the book out from its place on the shelf. It didn't have any writing except the title and author on it. The title sounded interesting, he was curious to know what the book was about so he opened it and flipped through the pages.

 

The book seemed to be about a small creature, called a hobbit, named Frodo and Junmyeon felt intrigued by it. He smiled as he closed the book, pressing it against his chest. He looked around the room and his eyes fell on two small, dark colored armchairs and he quickly went to sit down. The armchair was very comfortable and he leaned back, opening the book again. 

 

Junmyeon flipped through pages and pages, losing himself in time. It wasn't until the door to the library opened with a loud creak that he finally snapped out of his daze, looking up from the last page of the book. He stared straight at Yixing, the older vampire smiling at him.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, walking closer to Junmyeon. Junmyeon just shrugged. He honestly had no idea about the time, he had been so lost in the book. "Have you found something interesting to read?" he continued and Junmyeon nodded, raising the book to show for Yixing who hummed.

"It's a good book," he said and Junmyeon nodded, agreeing.

"But..." he began and Yixing hummed, staring intensely at him. "I was looking for... information about upirs..."

"Ah," the smile on Yixing's face returned and he nodded. "Let me see if I can find anything for you," he said before disappearing behind one of the bookshelves. While he was looking around the library, Junmyeon took the opportunity to finish the last page of his book before closing it and placing it on the small table beside the armchair.

"I found something," Yixing called out from behind the bookshelf and then he appeared in Junmyeon's field of vision again, a thick book in his hands. "It's a bit more than just about the upirs but I think you'll like it," he continued, holding out the book for Junmyeon. 

"Thank you," he said quietly, bowing his head as he carefully took the book from Yixing's hands. It was another leather bound book, much heavier than the other book he had read. 'The World' was printed on the front in loopy, gold letters. 

 

"I'm going to get a book to read, is it okay if I sit here and read?” Yixing asked, motioning to the armchair beside Junmyeon. Junmyeon nodded and flashed Yixing a small smile. The older vampire grinned back before turning around to get his book. Junmyeon could hear how he began to take out books, probably to see if they were worth reading, and putting them back when he deemed them boring. Meanwhile, he turned his attention down to the book and began to flip through the pages.

 

First page was an index, listing the contents on the book and what page to find them on. Looking through that list, Junmyeon noticed a lot of different creatures that all awoke the curiosity inside him, so he didn't flip to the upirs page right away but began to read through the whole book. He caught a movement in the corner of his eye and the armchair beside him creaked, that meant that Yixing had found a book. 

Vampires were the first being listed. Junmyeon stroked his fingers over the painted image of Minseok, mouth open to show fangs and ice blue eyes sharp. Minseok must be very old to be featured in one of these books. He blinked a couple of times before looking up at Yixing who was sitting with crossed legs and a small book in his lap.

"How old is..." he trailed off, unsure if he should say Minseok or Master. ”Minseok," he finally picked and a smile bloomed out on Yixing's lips. 

"You have to ask him yourself," he answered. "That book is a new print. But he is rather popular. It's a good thing being featured in those books, it means you're a representation of your species."

Junmyeon nodded, looking back at the book. The picture was really detailed, even though Junmyeon could see it was drawn it was almost perfect. It caught every important detail about Minseok's face. Under the picture, Minseok's full name was spelled out in nice, cursive writing.

 

_'Kim Min Seok'_

 

Junmyeon's eyes flickered over to the text, reading through it row by row. It was divided into two parts, vampires and progenies.

Progenies were a bit weaker than actual vampires, from a physical aspect. They were supposed to be servants to their sire or madam and apparently they had no memory of their human life. Junmyeon frowned and read the sentence again. 

 

_No memory of their human life._

 

All he knew when he had woken up was that he had one vampire to follow, his sire. So maybe that was right, maybe he was human before.

“Yixing…” he said quietly, turning to look at the other and Yixing hummed, not looking up from his book. “Were we human before?”

“Yes we were,” Yixing replied, chuckling as he looked up from his book.

“But what about the vampires… weren’t they human before?”

“No, they weren’t. They have always been vampires.”

“How?”

“No one really knows how vampires came to exist except the vampires themselves and to them, that secret is really valuable,” Yixing explained slowly and Junmyeon nodded. It made sense that they wanted to keep a secret to themselves. But he was still curious about it. “Go back and look for the upirs,” Yixing said and he turned his gaze back to the book. “Don’t dwell things you’ll never get an answer on.”

Junmyeon nodded as he continued reading the progenies column. There was a brief mention of Makerless vampires but it wasn’t much. It shortly stated that they were a danger to everyone around them as they had no experience of the vampire life or the hunger that came with it, but even so that some vampires took them in regardless. 

Deciding that he didn’t want to read more about his own kind, he flipped to the page on upirs. He was met with the terrifying picture of a female, her mouth open in a snarl and showcasing all her razor sharp teeth. The drawing was impressive, just like the one on Minseok, but the woman looked dangerous and to know those creatures walked around the halls in this house didn’t make Junmyeon feel good.

His eyes flickered down to the name under the image.

 

_‘Im Jin Ah’_

 

“Isn’t she pretty?” Yixing suddenly asked and Junmyeon looked up, eyes wide.

“Yes but… she’s a bit terrifying,” he replied and Yixing smiled widely.

“Oh yes, but she was a very kind soul. She worked for Jongdae before.”

“Why do they… work for vampires?” Junmyeon asked, his curiosity sparking again. Yixing shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

“Protection mostly,” he said. “They’re easier to kill than vampires, they’re basically humans with sharp teeth, claws and a taste for flesh. Humans don’t like upirs, nor does most vampires but being servants to vampires gives them protection and food.”

“That makes sense… But they won’t overthrow the vampires?”

“They are not as strong as vampires, they wouldn’t be able to hold the spot at the top of the food chain. Besides, as I said earlier their lives are fragile and they actually die of age.”

Looking down on the book again, Junmyeon noticed that there were indeed a life span number below the picture. They seemed to live to at least 500 years old but could get to 1000 as well. 

“Jinah passed away recently,” Yixing said, making Junmyeon raise his head again. “She almost reached 1000 years. She was healthy until the last but…” he trailed off and Junmyeon could see the sadness in his eyes. He must have liked this woman a lot. “People with a life span, they die…”

“Did you… like her?” Junmyeon asked carefully, not wanting to offend Yixing in any way.

“Yes, I was very much in love with her,” he said. “But I met her when I was a year and she was 865. We didn’t have much time together.”

“I’m sorry,” Junmyeon whispered, turning back to the book. 

“No,” Yixing said, shaking his head with a small smile as he also went back to his book. “It’s only the reality. I knew that when I fell in love with her.”

Junmyeon nodded, biting his bottom lip as he glanced up at Yixing again. He had another question that he wanted an answer to. "Can I ask you another question?" he said quietly. He didn't want to bother Yixing more than necessary but he needed an answer for this.

"Yes of course," Yixing smiled, nodding to emphasize what he just said.

"When I was in the city..." Junmyeon began slowly. Yixing hummed, probably only to show Junmyeon that he was listening and telling him to continue. "There was this gang with vampires... I think there were seven of them... I'm just... curious... why do those vampires live on the street like that while some vampire live like this?"

Yixing nodded again, rubbing his chin while taking a moment to think about Junmyeon's question. "It's very simple, not all vampires are born wealthy. There are some that prefers to live on the streets, feeding off the everyday humans."

"Why?"

"Because on the streets, they don't have to partake in the vampire society. We're quite known for looking down on others, judging and everything. Minseok is one of the few nice ones from his family."

"But... if they lived on the street, shouldn't they be more... accepting to those like..." Junmyeon trailed off, biting on his lower lip before speaking again. "Those like me..."

"Of course they don't see you the same as upirs and these noble vampires do. Maybe some do but in general they don't. But in their eyes, a Makerless progeny is something uncontrollable that steals their food," Yixing explained and Junmyeon nodded. That made a lot of sense.

“How does the… noble vampires view… us?” Junmyeon asked, almost a bit scared of the answer. It was probably not a positive one. 

“Well, originally the maker bites a human, making them their progeny to get a servant. Because a progeny has an undeniably strong bond with their maker, you can probably feel it even if your sire has left this world,” Yixing began and Junmyeon nodded, because he did still feel this bond to his sire. It was weak but he could feel it. “When a progeny is Makerless, they’re often uncontrollable, they have no maker that can teach them what’s right and what’s wrong and most noble vampires think that no other vampire can get control over a Makerless progeny or even tell them what to do.”

“B-but we’re not out of control… are we? We do listen to other vampires… right?” Junmyeon asked and Yixing nodded.

“Yes. Makerless vampires do tend to get a bit difficult if they get too close to humans or animals, because our instinct is to hunt. But the makerless vampires I’ve met has been very kind and never been out of control.”

“Then why do nobles say we’re out of control?”

“To be honest with you, I don’t know. It could be that they’re closed minded and relies on rumors.”

"Thank you for answering," Junmyeon said quietly, turning back to his book yet again. This time he didn't plan to bother Yixing again. He could hear Yixing chuckle but he didn't look up at the other vampire. He was too busy thinking about what Yixing just said that he missed the wide smile on Yixing’s face.

"Anytime, Junmyeon."

 

 

-

 

 

“So how have you been this week?” Minseok asked, looking at Junmyeon over the table. Junmyeon was sitting on the other side, nervously fiddling with the hem of his shirt. When one of the upirs had come to his room and told him that Minseok was expecting him in the dining room, he didn’t know what to expect. But he surely didn’t expect to sit together with Minseok at the dining table.

“Good,” Junmyeon replied, surprised with how steady his voice was. “And you?” he asked, watching as Minseok’s face broke into a smile.

“I’ve been very well thank you,” he replied. Junmyeon nodded and looked down in his lap. “So, are you prepared for the party next week?” he asked and Junmyeon glanced up again. He was nervous, but he wasn’t sure if he should tell Minseok that so he just nodded, forcing a small smile on his lips. “It’s okay to be nervous,” Minseok continued and Junmyeon swallowed. Had he been that obvious with his feelings? “Just tell me.”

“Yes, I’m a bit nervous,” Junmyeon said, his smile a bit more natural this time before he lowered his head.

“Say…” Minseok began, seeming to change subject and Junmyeon’s head snapped up again, eyes wide at Minseok’s next words. “Are you hungry?”

Well Yixing had kept him company and they had shared a bag of blood earlier that day, but that was hours ago and his throat was itching a little. After arriving to Minseok’s mansion, his body had become used to blood every day and often, causing it to crave for it almost every hour of the day.

“A little,” he admitted shyly.

“That’s good,” Minseok hummed, nodding his head. He looked over at the upir standing at the door, nodding once. Turning his head to the upir, Junmyeon saw the man nod as well before turning around and leaving the room. “He’s going to get the food,” Minseok explained when he turned his gaze back. 

 

_Food._

 

Would it be blood in bags or blood in glass? Would it be warm or cold? Quite frankly, Junmyeon disliked cold blood and those blood bags. It was okay, but the blood he had drunk from the humans during his weeks on the street had been so much better.

He was suddenly ripped out of his thoughts by the loud sound of a beating heart.

 

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

 

The sound was almost deafening in his ears and his throat began to itch even more when he caught the smell of warm, human blood, coursing through the veins of a living human.

“I prefer to drink my blood warm, straight from the source,” Minseok said, smiling as two upirs came through the door. They were carrying the body of a living man and Junmyeon stared wide-eyed at them as they placed the man on the table. He gripped the wooden armrests on the chair, all not to attack the man. He hadn’t heard the sound of a beating heart in a long time and it was just so alluring.

“I will call you when it’s time for cleaning up, please leave,” Minseok said, motioning for the upirs to leave the room. Both upirs bowed once before leaving the room. Junmyeon threw them a quick look at them before going back to stare intensely at the body. He could hear Minseok trying to say something but the human's deafening heartbeat was so distracting. 

He only snapped out of it when Minseok called his name, voice sharp and Junmyeon immediately cowered in his chair. His whole body was trembling, not because he was scared of Minseok, but because his body wanted the blood.

 

"Please help yourself," Minseok said, words causing the little self-control Junmyeon had to break. He bolted to the body, climbing on top of the table without any care and when he got to the body he stopped. He stared down on the human, who seemed to be sleeping. How was he supposed to kill this human?

He leaned down, placing his hands on the human's shoulders and bit down on his neck, where the pulse was beating the strongest. He heard a gasp and the body jerked once before going limp again. He could hear Minseok's chair scraping against the floor and then footsteps approaching him. Out of pure instinct a small growl slipped past his lips but as soon as the sound left his mouth, he snapped his head up and stared at Minseok.

"I'm so sorry!" he whispered, eyes wide as Minseok slowly came closer. At first, he didn't say anything; he just picked up the man's arm but his eyes fixed at Junmyeon.

"Don't worry," he said, a small smile on his face. "But don't do it again," he continued and Junmyeon nodded. He wouldn't. He felt ashamed of himself for behaving like this in front of Minseok. It wouldn't happen again. 

He watched as Minseok took the now dead man's arm to his mouth, biting down on the skin over his wrist. He suddenly didn't feel as hungry and he got off the table, his eyes still on Minseok. It was weird, because only moments ago everything he could think of was blood. But now he couldn’t do anything but stare at Minseok. He had to admit that Minseok was very handsome, he had thought so from the first moment he saw him, but seeing him drinking blood and lick the last blood of his lips sparked something inside Junmyeon.

It was a bit scary, because he had no idea what it was.

 

 

-

 

 

Junmyeon tried to keep close to Minseok as guests began to flood the mansion. The smell of so many different vampires was almost overwhelming and worry was chewing at Junmyeon's gut. He wanted to run away every single time someone looked at him. 

"Try not to worry too much," Yixing whispered as he and Luhan joined Junmyeon and Minseok's side. "Calm down and you'll be fine," he continued and Junmyeon nodded, biting his lip. He fumbled with his fingers for a moment before grabbing a hold of the jacket of Minseok's suit. 

The first person that Minseok greeted was a tall man with silver hair and matching silver eyes. Beside him was the yellow-eyed male that Junmyeon had met before, Baekhyun. 

“Chanyeol,” Minseok greeted warmly. Chanyeol smiled widely, his eyes turning into crescent moons. “It’s nice to see you back, I hope the trip was interesting.”

“It was,” he replied. “Thank you for babysitting Baek for me while I was gone,” he continued and Junmyeon could see Baekhyun glaring at Chanyeol and slapping him on the shoulder. Hopefully it was just in a playful way but Junmyeon wasn’t sure.

“It wasn’t a problem,” Minseok said, laughing. “He only dragged mud inside twice.”

“Hey!” Baekhyun whined. “I never dragged mud inside! That’s a lie!”

It was somehow amusing to see Baekhyun act so casual around Minseok. Something inside Junmyeon wondered if he also could have a relationship like this with Minseok, joking and all that. 

 

Minseok and Chanyeol continued chatting about some business things that Junmyeon didn’t really understand, so he tuned them out and looked around the ballroom instead, trying to get a look at the guests. The huge room was packed and Junmyeon didn’t want to think about just how many vampires there were. 

“Junmyeon,” Minseok suddenly said and Junmyeon snapped back to reality. “You spaced out.”

He nodded and bit his bottom lip. “I have a question,” he said quietly and Minseok nodded. “Is Baekhyun a werewolf?”

“Yes he is,” Minseok replied, voice low. “Chanyeol saved him once and since then he’s been following Chanyeol around.”

“Oh,” Junmyeon nodded.

“Yes, now I need to greet other people. You can follow me if you want,” Minseok said and turned around. Junmyeon quickly followed, grabbing a hold on Minseok’s suit jacket.

Minseok turned his head a little, flashing Junmyeon a small smile before turning his head towards a small, blonde woman.

 

"Bae Joohyun," he said, taking her smaller hand in his and bringing it up to his mouth, pressing his lips against her pale skin. Junmyeon observed her face, she looked a bit ashen and a little blood would probably do her good, but even so she was very pretty. She smiled as Minseok let go of her hand, gray blue eyes gleaming. 

"Kim Minseok," she said just as another blonde woman joined her side. "Always the charmer," she continued and Minseok chuckled. Junmyeon turned his gaze to Minseok, watching him intensely. 

"As always," Minseok replied, eyes shifting to the other woman. "Hello Seungwan," he said and the woman bowed, her blue eyes crinkled up.

"Minseok."

"Did you only bring Seungwan tonight?" Minseok asked, turning his eyes back to Joohyun, who nodded.

"They're at home with Yerim, my youngest," she said and Junmyeon turned his eyes back to look at the woman. Both she and her progeny both looked very nice and they were the first vampires at this party not to scare him. But even so, he flinched when Joohyun turned her sharp eyes to him. "Who is this then?"

 

Seungwan also turned her eyes to Junmyeon, her ice blue eyes boring into his soul. Junmyeon lowered his eyes, tightening his hold on Minseok's jacket. 

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Minseok asked, gently prying Junmyeon's hands off him. Junmyeon's eyes flickered up to Minseok before he looked back at Joohyun and Seungwan, both still smiling at him.

"I'm Junmyeon," he whispered, voice surprisingly steady.

"I see," Joohyun said and looked like she was going to ask something but Seungwan opened her mouth first.

"How old are you?" she asked, her eyes gleaming. Junmyeon just shrugged, because he actually had no idea how old he really was.

"He's not yours, Minseok," Joohyun simply said. Junmyeon shifted his gaze to her, feeling a bit anxious. Yixing had told him how vampires looked at makerless progenies. When Joohyun looked at him, he returned her gaze, searching for the tiniest sign of disgust but found none. 

"No," Minseok replied and Junmyeon finally broke the staring, looking back at Minseok as the older vampire placed a hand on his hip. "He’s not.”

"I see," Joohyun hummed. 

"Junmyeon," Minseok addressed him, turning his head to Junmyeon. "Would you mind getting us two glasses of blood from Kyungsoo? Get some O minus for me."

"And some A positive for me, I have a sweet tooth to satisfy," Joohyun said, causing Seungwan to nudge her elbow in her ribs. Junmyeon nodded, a little frown on his face. The two of them seemed to share a very weird relationship. Minseok patted him lightly on his hip before letting go. Junmyeon turned around and quickly headed to where Kyungsoo was standing behind a table with wine glasses. He kept his head low and avoided bumping into someone as much as possible. 

"Watch it," a vampire hissed to him when he accidentally bumped into them. Junmyeon let out a pathetic whimper, cowering even more as he continued to make his way through the crowd. 

 

"Did Minseok send you?" Kyungsoo asked as soon as Junmyeon reached him. Junmyeon quickly nodded, his eyes falling down on the wine glasses on the table. They were all filled up to the middle with blood. All the blood made Junmyeon a bit dizzy but because Minseok had fed him earlier, he didn't feel that burning in his throat anymore. "I'm guessing he wants some O minus," Kyungsoo continued, reaching out for one of the wine glasses, picking it up and handing it to Junmyeon.

"And some A plus..." Junmyeon said, clearing his throat as he tried to remember the full name of the female vampire. "For... Bae Joohyun!" he finally said, stumbling over his words a bit. Kyungsoo hummed and reached for another glass. 

"Here you go," he said, holding out the glass. "Try to remember which one is A and which one is O."

Junmyeon nodded before carefully spinning around with the glasses in his hands and made his way back to Minseok. He could feel people looking at him and whispering among each other who he was. It made him feel extremely uneasy and nervous. 

By the time he reached Minseok and Joohyun, his hands were shaking in nervousness. He tried to keep them steady as he held out a glass for Joohyun, who smiled at him as she took it with delicate hands. Minseok looked at him with a spark of concern in his eyes but he didn't say anything.

Junmyeon stood quietly beside Minseok as he continued to chat with Joohyun about everything between heaven and earth, things that Junmyeon didn't really understand. He kept his gaze mostly at Minseok, but every now and then he glanced over at Joohyun, whose skin now had a much peachier color. She looked even prettier now. Junmyeon's eyes fell on her lips, she had very nice lips and he could see her sharp teeth whenever she smiled at Minseok. 

"Ah well, I will go and chat with Luhan for a while," Joohyun said just as Junmyeon began to listen to their conversation again. "We have some matters to discuss," she continued, a pleasant smile on her lips.

"Then you better go before Zitao begins to whine for Luhan to leave the party," Minseok said, handing over his empty wine glass to one of the servants that passed by. "I'm sure I'll find someone to talk to," he continued, bowing a little to Joohyun before she left them.

"Let's see if we find anyone to talk to," Minseok said, turning around. Junmyeon followed close behind. "Joohyun is a distant cousin of mine," Minseok explained as they walked through the crowd. Junmyeon nodded and opened his mouth to just say "I see" but an older vampire lady stopped them. 

"Kim Hyojin," Minseok said, immediately taking the lady's hand to press his lips against it. As Minseok did that, Junmyeon took the opportunity to observe the woman. She had caramel brown hair that reached below her shoulders, a very pretty face and sharp, blue eyes. She was probably also one of Minseok's relatives, but her eyes were more azure in color, compared to Minseok's icy ones. "What a lovely surprise. You usually don’t come to my parties."

"That's because of the dogs you always insist on inviting," the lady, Hyojin, replied, tilting her chin up in a rather snobbish manner. Then her blue eyes shifter to Junmyeon, gaze piercing. "I came here because a bird whispered in my ear that you had a progeny."

"Yes of course," Minseok said, motioning to Junmyeon. "Hyojin, this is Junmyeon. Junmyeon, this is my cousin, Hyojin."

"It's nice to meet you ma'am," Junmyeon said, trying to keep his voice steady and bowed before the female.

 

"Who is your sire?" Hyojin just asked bluntly and Junmyeon's head snapped up. It wasn’t like he didn’t mind telling people he knew who his sire was, or at least who he thought his sire was, but he didn’t know this lady at all. He simply pressed his lips together in a line. At that, Hyojin just snickered, rolling her eyes. "This is how sireless progenies ends up Minseok. You can't get them to listen at all."

"I have to disagree with you Hyojin," Minseok replied calmly, face stoic. "We've had no problems with Junmyeon since we took him in. Besides, it's possible to take in progenies. Just look at Joohyun, she had no problems with Sooyoung."

"Don't speak about Joohyun," Hyojin hissed, her gaze turning even colder. "She can't even control her own progenies."

"Then we'll talk about something else," Minseok said, still calm. He turned to Junmyeon, a small smile on his lips. "Why don't you go and find Yixing?"

Junmyeon nodded and quickly left them, uneasy feeling gnawing at his gut. He could hear Hyojin spit out something that sounded like "why don't you just spare the poor thing and kill it right now" but he just shook his head, immediately pretending like he didn't hear it. 

 

“Is that Minseok’s fake progeny?” a vampire whispered as Junmyeon passed by. Junmyeon lowered his head and closed his fists tightly. “He doesn’t look like someone who could cause disaster.”

“Oh believe me,” another vampire answered. “They are abandoned for a reason.”

Junmyeon bit his bottom lip, trying to shut out the rest of the conversation. These vampires knew nothing about him. _Nothing._

 

He just wanted to find Yixing. 

Yixing was mindlessly chatting with one of the upirs, whose face turned sullen as soon when Junmyeon reached them. The servant quickly left, leaving Junmyeon confused with Yixing.

"Don't mind them, they're a bit stuck on what previous masters have said about progenies," Yixing said and Junmyeon bit his lips, nodding his head a little. "Have you had any blood yet?" he continued, quickly changing subject.

"Not here," Junmyeon replied, looking around the room. "Minseok gave me some before..." Yixing nodded before breaking out in a smile and grabbing Junmyeon's arm. 

"Then let's get you some," he said and pulled Junmyeon back to the table where Kyungsoo had been standing. But now, there was another upir standing there. "So, what do you want?"

"Uh," he honestly had no idea what he really wanted, because he liked everything except O minus, which was too bitter for him. "I guess I can take B..." he finally said and Yixing nodded, immediately reaching for a glass. As he took it in his hands, Junmyeon felt a bit worried that he would drop it in all his nervousness. He could feel other vampires staring at him and that certainly didn't help calm his nerves. 

"Don't mind them too much," Yixing whispered when he joined Junmyeon's side. "They're bad people anyway."

"Alright," Junmyeon mumbled into his glass, taking a small sip of the blood. B was the sour type of blood and Junmyeon quite liked it. Something he had learned during his stay with Minseok was that Minseok absolutely hated B blood. It was too sour for his taste. 

 

"Excuse me," a man suddenly stood in front of Junmyeon and Yixing, his red eyes fixed at Junmyeon. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something," he continued but Junmyeon shook his head. The man smiled, holding out his hand for Junmyeon. "Cho Kyuhyun," he said and Junmyeon carefully took his hand. His skin was soft and his grip gentle.

"Junmyeon," he said quietly and Kyuhyun nodded, smile still present on his lips.

"It's nice to meet Minseok's new progeny," he said and Junmyeon noticed how Yixing tensed beside him. "Let's see how long you'll survive," he continued, smile slowly changing to a smirk and Junmyeon's gut churned uncomfortably. 

"I suggest you go back to your company," Yixing hissed from beside Junmyeon and Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow, looking rather amused.

"Ill-behaved like always Yixing," he shook his head. "Hasn't Luhan taught you any better?"

"I believe I have," suddenly Luhan entered the scene, disapproving frown on his face. "I also believe I told you to stay away from my progenies last time we met. Didn't I, Kyuhyun?"

"Let's not start a scene Luhan," Kyuhyun replied calmly, completely avoiding what Luhan just said. "I'll be leaving then."

"Coward," Luhan hissed out but if Kyuhyun heard it, he just ignored it. It seemed like something had happened between Luhan and Kyuhyun. Just as he was about to ask, a familiar scent reached his nose. He knew this one. It was those foul beasts from the forest, which he later had learned was werewolves. In fright, Junmyeon grabbed Yixing's jacket with his free hand.

"It's only Jinki and his pack," Luhan said, all anger seemed to have washed away. But his words didn't calm Junmyeon one bit. Not at all. He recognized the name Jinki. That feline looking man had called their leader Jinki. 

The smell came closer and closer. Junmyeon looked around the huge ballroom, trying to locate Minseok but it was impossible. He didn't even smell Minseok, there were too many people in the room. He could only smell vampires and the strong scent of werewolves.

 

When the werewolves entered the room, Junmyeon really wanted to run away. He could see them in the crowd. It wasn't really that hard. The vampires all just moved away from them, as if they carried a disease or something. His whole body was tense, prepared to run away when suddenly something very familiar wrapped itself around him. There was one scent that was so familiar but he had no idea from where he knew it.

 

_ "Junmyeon!" he could hear someone call and for a brief second, he wasn't in the ballroom. He was in a park. In front of him was another male, a tall one with a kind smile and they both were laughing. Junmyeon's chest felt warm and pleasant. _

 

But as suddenly as it had arrived, the scene was gone and Junmyeon was back in the ballroom. He blinked rapidly, looking up at Yixing who looked back at him, worry in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Junmyeon wanted to tell him about what he just saw but it was maybe for the best to wait till after the party, so he just nodded. He shifted his eyes to Luhan who now shone like a sun, opening his arms for the man approaching them.

"Jinki!" he exclaimed, hugging the man. When they pulled apart, Junmyeon could clearly see that this man was indeed the same one that had spared his life the first night. "It's nice to see you."

"Same to you Luhan," Jinki nodded, smile on his face. He looked like a really pleasant person, Junmyeon noted. "It was nice of Minseok to invite us."

"Of course he would invite you. You know Minseok," Luhan replied, patting Jinki on the arm. "Let me introduce you to someone," he continued and motioned to Junmyeon. Junmyeon cowered and gripped Yixing's jacket even tighter. He was terrified. 

Jinki's expression went from happy to blank the moment he laid his eyes on Junmyeon.

"You," was all he said and Junmyeon swallowed. He looked at Luhan, eyes begging for help but Luhan was just looking between the two of them.

"Do you know each other?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. Yixing was also eyeing them weirdly.

"No," Jinki answered. "But we found him in the forest a few months ago, protecting his dead sire."

"Oh."

Luhan didn't say anything else and there was a very awkward silence. Junmyeon could feel Jinki stare at him. He did everything in his power not to look at Jinki.

"I'm glad Minseok found you," Jinki suddenly said and Junmyeon looked at him, surprised. "We thought of maybe going back for you to spare you the pain of being alone without your sire, but I'm glad we didn't."

"Thank you for sparing my life," Junmyeon whispered, slowly letting go of Yixing's jacket.

"Maybe I should introduce myself then," Jinki said, smile coming back on his face as he held out his hand. "I'm Jinki, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Junmyeon replied, taking Jinki's hand. "I'm-"

"Junmyeon?" a voice interrupted. The same voice from the vision Junmyeon had not long ago. His whole body felt weird and he stared wide-eyed at the man, the same man from his vision, who stood right behind Jinki.

"Do I know you?" he whispered, his knees suddenly feeling weak. Several pictures flashed through his mind. One where he and this man, a much younger version of the man, were sitting in a school cafeteria, laughing together. Then another vision of the two of them sitting on a pair of swings.

"Junmyeon, are you okay?" he heard Yixing ask but he didn't react. All he could focus on were the visions in front of his eyes. He could feel the wineglass slipping through his fingers and his knees finally gave up.

Someone caught him from hitting the floor too hard but he didn't know whom.

But he now knew something. He knew this man's name.

"Minho..." the name just slipped past his lips before he blacked out.

 

 

-

 

 

The whole world was blurry when Junmyeon opened his eyes. He blinked rapidly trying to focus. He was back in his room lying under the pure white bed covers. How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was that he blacked out. But then he remembered that man.

 

_Minho._

 

He jerked up to a sitting position. He had known that man and it made no sense.

"Are you okay?" Junmyeon flinched in surprise and turned to look at Minseok who was sitting beside the bed. He looked worried. Guilt churned in Junmyeon's gut. He didn't want to worry Minseok.

"Yes..." Junmyeon nodded, because he did feel okay now. "What happened?"

"Yixing came to get me because you had passed out," Minseok began and Junmyeon nodded again. "Then Minho talked to me and I think I understand what happened."

 

_Minho._

 

Junmyeon swallowed hard. "Who is he?" he asked quietly, his eyes flickering around the room nervously. He didn't like this feeling.

"He told me that he knew you back when you were human," Minseok said and a wave of what must be memories washed over Junmyeon, memories from many points of his previous life. Faceless people flashed by, voices rang in his ears and it left a sour taste in his mouth.

 

_"Hi," Junmyeon remembered saying, looking shyly up at a boy in front of him. The boy was a bit taller than Junmyeon himself, but still very cute. "I'm Junmyeon," he continued, reaching out a small, chubby hand. The boy took his hand and shook it gently. His hand was warm. It felt nice._

_"I'm Minho," the boy said, smile widening._

 

Junmyeon shook his head, blinking as he came back to reality. Minseok was looking at him worriedly, deep lines on his forehead. Junmyeon wanted to speak. Wanted to assure Minseok that he was okay, but no words escaped his lips. 

 

_"Junmyeon," an older Minho, but still not an adult, stood in front of him. Junmyeon looked down on his hands, seeing that Minho was gently holding them in his. His hands were still warm. Warmth bloomed in Junmyeon's chest. "I'm sorry," Minho continued and Junmyeon's heart dropped. "I don't think we can be friends anymore..."_

_With those words, Minho let go of Junmyeon's hands and turned around. It felt cold and lonely. Junmyeon's chest tightened and he felt tears roll down his cheeks. He brought his now cold hands up to his face to dry the salty tears away._

_"Minho!" he called out, voice broken. He wanted to run after Minho, demand an explanation for why they couldn't be friends, but he couldn't. His body was frozen and he only watched Minho walk further and further away from him._

 

"-myeon!" Junmyeon finally snapped back to present time and he was met with Minseok's worried face. Minseok had moved from the chair to sit on the bed, drying blood off Junmyeon's cheeks. He didn't realize he was crying. "What's going on?"

"M-Minho," Junmyeon choked. He needed to see Minho. He needed answers. "Is he here?" he asked weakly and Minseok nodded, eyes darkening a little. "I need to see him," Junmyeon said, looking intensely at Minseok as the other vampire stood up.

"I'll get him for you."

"Thank you," Junmyeon whispered. Minseok nodded again before walking out the door. The door was shut and Junmyeon was alone in deafening silence. He raised his hand to his cheeks, drying the remaining blood away from his cheeks.

He snapped his head back up when the door handle turned downwards and pushed open. In came Minho, much more mature looking than he had been in Junmyeon’s memory.

“Junmyeon,” he breathed, looking at Junmyeon as if he didn’t really believe it.

“Minho,” Junmyeon whispered, slowly getting off the bed. He noted that he was out of the stiff suit and in only a pair of black pants and a simple blue shirt. He was a bit unsteady on his feet but he quickly got back his balance and slowly approached Minho.

 

Minho was frozen in place, not moving a muscle. He was still staring at Junmyeon with wide eyes. It wasn’t until Junmyeon was within arm reach that Minho finally moved. He flung his arms around Junmyeon and drew him close. Junmyeon’s nose was pressed into Minho’s chest and he knew that Minho’s scent wouldn’t smell too good to him because none of the other werewolves smelled good to him, but, surprisingly enough, Minho’s scent was different. It smelled like home and safety. 

Suddenly Minho’s whole body began to shake with sobs. Junmyeon could hear Minho’s snivels in his ears, so clear. Hesitantly, Junmyeon wrapped his arms around Minho, rubbing circles on his back.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, voice a bit muffled by Minho’s chest. 

“I’m so sorry,” Minho choked out, arms tightening around Junmyeon. _“I’m so sorry.”_

Junmyeon had no idea what Minho was apologizing for since he didn’t remember much. He only remembered Minho saying that they couldn’t be friends. He just nodded into Minho’s chest, continuing to rub his back.

“Why are you here?” Minho asked when he pulled back from Junmyeon, looking down on him. Junmyeon glanced up, taking in Minho’s appearance. He looked a lot like he had done in Junmyeon’s memory, but he was a lot more handsome now. More mature. His cheeks were damp with tears. Junmyeon didn’t know what got into him, but he reached up to dry the tears away from Minho’s cheeks. 

 

“Who bit you?” Minho continued, allowing Junmyeon to dry his tears. It was very comforting to Junmyeon, to be this close to Minho. 

“I don’t know… I’m not sure about his name,” Junmyeon whispered, continuing to dry Minho’s tears. Minho nodded, not saying a word and he just sniveled. "Can we sit down?" he asked, removing his hand from Minho's cheek. "I need answers."

"Of course," Minho answered, voice equally as quiet as Junmyeon. Junmyeon nodded and let go of Minho, turning back to the bed. Minho followed close behind and they both sat down on the bed, falling into an awkward silence. Junmyeon was looking down at his hands, trying to figure out how to ask Minho all the questions he wanted to ask. He could see Minho fumbling with his hands in the corner of his eyes.

He heard Minho suck in a deep breath, before opening his mouth. "Can I hold your hand?"

"What?" the question confused Junmyeon. Why would Minho want to hold his hand? But then again, hugging Minho had felt nice so maybe holding hands would feel nice as well. He nodded and his chest felt warm when Minho's face lit up.

"I've missed you..." Minho confessed as he gently took Junmyeon's hand. Junmyeon nodded again and looked down on their hands. Minho's hand was a lot bigger than his own and a lot warmer. It was very comforting. "Minseok told me that progenies lose their memories... So I'm guessing you don't remember me..." Minho looked so sad as he played with Junmyeon's hand, tracing the lines in his palm with his index finger.

"But I do..." Junmyeon said and Minho's head snapped up, his yellow eyes wide. "I mean... I don't remember everything... But there is some things… and I want answers…”

Minho pressed his lips together in a thin line, nodding.

“I… I remembered introducing myself to you,” Junmyeon began, curling his fingers around Minho’s. “Could you tell me how we met?”

“Oh… Oh yeah, uh… we met when we were 9. We were in the same grade and I had just moved to town. We were seatmates but you didn’t look at me when I sat beside you, nor did you introduce yourself. I approached you on the break, in a sandbox.”

“So we’ve been friends for a long time?” 

“Yes, we’re both born in-“ Minho began but a sudden thought hit Junmyeon.

“Do you know my birthday?!” he asked with unexpected excitement. He tightened his hold around Minho’s hand and stared up at him with wide eyes. Zitao, who remembered a bit more of his human life, had told him about birthdays and it seemed really fun.

“Yes, but not your birthday according to what vampires count…”

“When is it?”

“May 22,” Minho said and Junmyeon nodded, feeling his lips stretch out in a smile. Minho was also smiling and he patted Junmyeon’s cheek. “It’s nice to see you smile.”

With that, they fell into awkward silence again and Minho coughed in embarrassment. Junmyeon lowered his head, a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation.

“I have one more question,” he finally said, breaking the silence. He looked up again at Minho who hummed. “I remembered you telling me we couldn’t be friends… why?”

 

“I…” Minho trailed off, taking a deep breath. It was obvious that this was something he didn’t really want to talk about. “It was eight years ago… I was on my way home from you one evening. It was late and the way from your house to mine went through the forest and I never had troubles going that route before, so I took that road. It was a full moon night and Jinki happened to be close by as I passed. He bit me and yeah… I turned into a werewolf. I tried to keep going on with my normal life afterwards… But it was hard. Being a werewolf, and trying to live a human life, is hard. It’s like the wolf is clawing at your chest at all times, wanting to get out. I was terrified of hurting you or anyone else. So I told my parents the truth and they told me that they would allow me to move in together with Jinki after meeting him as well… They told me they wanted me to be safe, but I think they were scared for their own lives…”

 

Junmyeon frowned as Minho told him everything. He understood Minho, but had they not been good friends? Minho should have been able to tell him.

“Were we not good friends?” The question just slipped past his lips without much thought behind it and Minho’s eyes widened.

“You were my best friend, Junmyeon,” Minho said truthfully, squeezing Junmyeon’s hands. “But I was so close to transforming in front of you and killing you so many times… I just… I wanted you to live a normal life and not be in danger.”

“Would you have come back?”

“What?”

“Would you have come back? I mean, when you learned to control your wolf better, would you have come back?”

“Yes,” Minho whispered, squeezing Junmyeon’s hand again. “Yes I was going to come back when I had gotten better… I am much better now. But when I got back, you were gone.”

“Gone? Where?” There were even more questions spinning in Junmyeon’s head now. He wanted to know who he had been as a human. He was so curious.

“No one knew, you’d been reported missing.”

Junmyeon nodded, chewing on his bottom lip. He wanted to ask Minho more questions but then the handle on his door was turned and the door was pushed open. Jinki, Minho’s alpha, entered slowly and smiled at them.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need to leave right now Minho, something just came up,” he said and Minho nodded stiffly, slowly letting go of Junmyeon’s hand. Junmyeon stared intensely at Minho as the other stood up.

“Is it okay if I come back?” Minho asked, looking down on Junmyeon. Junmyeon nodded eagerly, smile on his face, because he really wanted to get to know both Minho and his past self more. “I’ll see you soon, if Minseok allows it,” Minho continued, smile spreading over his lips before he turned around and followed Jinki out of the room.

 

 

-

 

 

“You know,” Yixing began as he entered Junmyeon’s room. Junmyeon, who had been completely absorbed in a book, blinked rapidly as he looked up. He had asked Minseok for permission to borrow the book, Lord of the Rings, from the library the previous day. “You are allowed to roam the house as you want. You don’t have to linger in here.”

“But I’m reading,” Junmyeon protested, holding up the book for Yixing. 

“Yes, right now. I just meant that you’re allowed to move around freely. You don’t have to ask anyone for permission.”

“Not even Minseok?”

“Not even Minseok,” Yixing confirmed as he sat down on Junmyeon’s bed. The sheets had been changed now, so now his comforter and pillow were covered with purple sheets instead of white. Yixing looked down at them and smiled. “I like the color.”

“I do too,” Junmyeon said, his lips stretching out in a smile and eyes turning into crescent moons. “It’s nice with colors.”

“It is indeed,” Yixing said, looking up from the sheets. “We also have a lot of color in our room.”

As Yixing spoke, Junmyeon realized that he had no idea where Yixing’s room where. He picked up the plain, sky blue bookmark from his lap and placed it in the book, between page 214 and 215, the second and third pages in the chapter _Many meetings_.

“Is it okay if I ask where your room is?” he said, looking at Yixing.

 

“Of course it is,” he replied. “I live on the first floor in one of the bigger rooms, together with Yifan, Zitao and Luhan. I’ll show it to you sometime.”

Junmyeon nodded. It made sense that they would stay together with their sire. “Do you all… sleep in the same bed?” he asked, honestly feeling curious. 

“We do,” Yixing nodded. “It’s a tight fit but that’s how we like it.”

Junmyeon nodded again, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought about what Yixing said. He was really curious about Yixing’s relationship to his sire and the other progenies as none of the books about vampires he’d read had mentioned something about one vampire having more than one progeny. But was it really that rare? Joohyun have four progenies. 

“Don’t think too hard,” Yixing said, snapping Junmyeon out of his thoughts. “If you have any questions, just ask me.”

“I just… how does the relationship between you and Luhan’s other progenies work?” Junmyeon asked, chewing of his bottom lip when he finished speaking.

Yixing hummed, nodding as he leaned back a little. “I would describe it as lovers. I love both Yifan and Zitao, just as much as I love Luhan.”

“But…” Junmyeon frowned a little. “What about Jinah?” he asked. 

“Everyone can move on, Junmyeon,” Yixing replied kindly. “Just because I loved her once doesn’t mean I can’t love other people.”

Junmyeon nodded, biting his lip. “The lover relationship with many progenies… Is it like this for everyone?”

“No,” Yixing chuckled. “Take Joohyun for example. Yerim is not involved with the other four, not as a lover. To Joohyun, she’s a daughter and to the other progenies, she’s a little sister.”

“I see,” Junmyeon nodded. He didn’t know much about Yerim, or any of Joohyun’s progenies in fact, except that she was the youngest of Joohyun’s progenies. 

“Speaking of Yifan and Zitao, I have to go now. I promised Zitao to follow him to town,” Yixing said and stood up from the bed. “If there’s anything you want to know, just ask.”

“I will,” Junmyeon nodded and shoot Yixing a wide smile.

“And don’t stay inside too long, you need to get out and move around as well. And when you do, feel free to take some blood from the refrigerator,” Yixing continued and Junmyeon nodded again. “Okay?”

“Okay!”

 

-

 

 

As Junmyeon had felt a little too contained and trapped in his room, scared of moving outside without permission, he quickly followed Yixing’s words and started leaving his room more often. It felt good to just walk through the empty corridors of Minseok’s mansion, exploring what rooms Luhan had deemed “unnecessary to look at” when he showed Junmyeon around the place.

Outside the huge windows he could see a beautiful garden but it took him a few days to finally decide that today was the day he would step outside.

He felt rather uncomfortable as he pushed the back door, the one leading out from the kitchen to the backyard, open. He hadn’t been outside in a long time, not that he had been bothered by it, and he wasn’t really fond of the things that had happened to him during his time outside. 

 

He carefully stepped down the small stair, sighing in content when his bare feet came in contact with plain soil. _It felt nice_ , he thought as he looked down on his toes, wiggling them. 

He looked up again and began to slowly walk through the garden, admiring all the flowers and trees. Whoever was taking care of the garden was doing a fantastic job. He looked up in the sky. The sky was clear except a few fluffy clouds and the sun was shining brightly. As he just fed before going outside, the sun didn’t bother him at all. If he had skipped that, he would have gotten a terrible itch under his skin. 

Junmyeon stopped to look at one of the white and dark pink pelargonium flowers. He gently stroked his finger over the petals, a small smile playing on his lips.

 

His smile quickly fell as he heard footsteps approaching. He spun around and saw the vampire that had only been briefly introduced to him during his first time at the mansion. He couldn’t remember the name, but he knew it was the progeny to one of the red-eyed vampire brothers, the ones that trained the upirs.

“Hi?” he said carefully, voice quiet and eyes avoiding Junmyeon. It was almost as if he was scared of Junmyeon.

“Hi,” Junmyeon replied, a little braver than the other progeny. “Uhm…” he wasn’t sure what was appropriate to say, but he decided that he should just ask for the other’s name. “I’m sorry but… I’ve forgotten your name.”

“Oh,” the progeny said softly, reaching out a hand to Junmyeon. “I’ve forgotten yours too,” he confessed, an awkward laugh escaping his lips and Junmyeon couldn’t help but do the same. “I’m Sehun.”

“I’m Junmyeon,” he replied, taking Sehun’s hand and shaking it. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same,” Sehun said, smile tugging on his thin lips. Junmyeon only smiled back, letting go of Sehun’s hand, and they fell into an awkward silence. Junmyeon looked around, at everything else but Sehun meanwhile Sehun was looking down, playing with his fingers.

 

“So… uh…” Junmyeon began, finally looking at Sehun. “What are you doing here?”

“Jongin and Jongdae are here with some new servants for Minseok,” he shrugged. “They’re going through the house rules and I’ve heard it too many times already… So I decided to go outside.”

“That’s nice,” Junmyeon hummed. He looked around the huge garden. “I… I haven’t been outside until now…”

“Really?” 

“Yeah…”

“It must be nice to finally go outside,” mumbled, voice low, before he looked up at the sky. “It’s nice weather today,” he continued, absentmindedly scratching his arm. As Junmyeon eyed Sehun closer, he noted the ashen color Sehun’s skin had. 

“You should drink something,” he said quietly and Sehun nodded. Junmyeon really disliked the itch the sun caused. It had happened a lot as he had passed by a window when unfed and the sun was glaring. It was uncomfortable.

“It’s no big deal,” Sehun said, waving his hand but he looked uncomfortable.

“The kitchen is just there…” Junmyeon raised his hand to point at the back door. “And I’m sure it’s okay for you to drink a little.” Yixing had told him that taking blood was okay, so it shouldn’t be a problem if he gave Sehun some just to help the itch.

 

“If it’s okay,” Sehun mumbled, lowering his head a little. 

“Let’s get you some, okay?” Junmyeon said, taking Sehun’s hand without any hesitation and pulled him to the kitchen. It wasn’t until they got inside that he actually thought about the sudden, bold action. He quickly let go of Sehun’s hand, mumbling a sorry before he went to the refrigerator. 

He looked over his shoulder at Sehun, who was sitting down on one of the tall chairs around the kitchen island. “What type would you like?”

“I like AB,” Sehun said, a smile tugging on his lips. Junmyeon nodded and turned back to the refrigerator, taking out a small, plastic bag of AB blood. Had he been down here during his first week in the mansion, he probably wouldn’t have been able to control himself. As soon as the refrigerator opened, the scent of blood filled in the air. But he was very well fed here and the scent of blood barely affected him. 

“I hope cold is okay,” Junmyeon said as he handed Sehun the plastic bag and sat down at the kitchen island as well. Sehun hummed, gently taking the bag from him and carefully tearing a small hole in it. The scent of AB blood became heavier in the room but Junmyeon didn’t feel bothered by it.

“Can I ask you something?” Sehun suddenly asked and Junmyeon blinked before slowly nodding. “Who’s your original sire?”

“I don’t know,” Junmyeon replied truthfully. “He was dead when I woke up… I found him not long after I had woken up… But I think his name was Siwon…”

“Oh,” Sehun said. “Jongin might know someone with that name but I don’t know anyone… Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Junmyeon replied, smiling at Sehun. “But I have a question.”

“Ask away.”

“I just wonder… how would you describe your relationship with your sire?” It was a rather intimate question, but Junmyeon had been dying to know the answer and he felt like he’d asked Yixing a lot already. Sehun was the first outside progeny he’d met since the party Minseok held. 

“I would describe it as lovers,” Sehun answered without hesitation. “I love Jongin and Jongin loves me.”

“Does all progenies have a loving relationship to their maker?” 

“No,” Sehun snorted, looking rather amused and Junmyeon’s face fell. He didn’t mean to ask such a stupid question and have Sehun laughing at him. Sehun, however, seemed to notice this and quickly opened his mouth again. “No, please don’t take this the wrong way I wasn’t laughing at you!” he hurried and Junmyeon eyed him, not really sure. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay…”

 

“But to… to answer your question, no, not all relationships between progeny and maker are love relationships. Take Jongdae, Jongin’s brother, his progeny wasn’t emotionally bonded to him so they had a mutual agreement that allowed Sunyoung to move away from our house. They never got the bond many of us has, which we get from being emotionally bonded to our maker,” Sehun explained and Junmyeon nodded. 

“But I never met my sire while he was alive… why do I feel a bond to him?”

“I have no idea how the bond really work…” Sehun began. “But it could be because your being was reaching out and _hoping_ to create an emotional bond to your maker.”

“Maybe…” Junmyeon mumbled. His head was full of thoughts and he just sighed. He would spend a lot of time thinking about this. His sire was dead but he still felt the bond. He shouldn’t… because his sire was dead. He shouldn’t hope for his sire to reply to the bond. It was impossible.

 

_No_ , Junmyeon thought for himself. _This is enough. From now on, I will move on._


	3. Act III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junmyeon wakes up alone in a new world.

The house was unusually empty and quiet. Junmyeon frowned as he padded around the upper floor on bare feet. No upirs were walking around, no Luhan, no Yixing, no one.

He slowly walked downstairs, trying to listen if there was anyone around. As he reached the kitchen, he realized that someone was playing on the grand piano in the ballroom. The melody was slow and gentle and he quietly walked towards the room. 

As he peeked inside the room, he could see Minseok sitting by the grand piano. Minseok never mentioned that he could play piano. But then again, Minseok seemed to be quite old so he would have had a lot of time practicing a lot of skills. 

 

“Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon hadn’t realized that the music had stopped until his name was called out and he stared wide-eyed at Minseok. He was sure he had been quiet when he entered the room but apparently not. 

“I… I didn’t mean to sneak around,” he said, still staring at Minseok. He worried that Minseok would be angry with him sneaking around like this. 

“Don’t worry,” Minseok smiled. “Come here and sit down.”

 

Junmyeon nodded. Even though Minseok didn’t seem angry with him, he quickly scurried across the whole ballroom to the corner where the grand piano was standing. Minseok was moving to the side on the piano chair, making space for Junmyeon. Junmyeon sat down beside him slowly, fixing his eyes on the piano keys. 

“I haven’t spoken to you in a while,” Minseok began and Junmyeon nodded, his eyes still on the white piano keys. “I’ve been very busy lately, new upirs arrived and work.”

Junmyeon nodded, looking up from the piano keys. “It’s okay,” he said, a smile tugging on his lips. “I understand that you’re busy.”

“Hopefully things will calm down soon,” Minseok said. “How have you been doing lately?”

“I’ve been very good,” Junmyeon replied truthfully. “I’ve been reading a lot and been outside in the garden.”

“That sounds really nice. I have to take a walk through the garden again to remind myself of how pretty it is.”

“It’s beautiful,” Junmyeon agreed before deciding to ask Minseok about himself. “How have you been?”

“It’s been stressful,” Minseok replied honestly. “But it’s been alright.”

 

“I didn’t know you could play piano,” Junmyeon said, changing the subject.

“I usually don’t play that often,” Minseok chuckled. “I just enjoy to do it sometimes when I have some spare time.”

“It must be nice to be able to play it,” Junmyeon mused, looking back at the keys again. “It’s a beautiful instrument.”

“Indeed it is,” Minseok agreed. “If you want to learn, you should ask Yixing. He’s better at piano than me.”

“I’d like to learn,” Junmyeon nodded eagerly, smiling widely. He would love to be able to play piano, so he would surely ask Yixing sometime. “I’ll ask him as soon as I can." Minseok didn’t say anything more; he just nodded, chuckling as he ruffled Junmyeon’s blond hair.

 

 

 

-

 

 

Junmyeon stared up into the roof in Minseok’s room as he listened to Minseok’s fingers hitting the computer keys. Minseok had asked for him to stop by his room and when he had gotten there, Minseok just told him to sit on the bed.

But he had just been typing, and typing, and typing. The sound was driving Junmyeon mad and he was so bored so he had just flopped on his back, deciding to stare up into the roof.

While lying there, Junmyeon’s thoughts wandered off to the party that would take place in two days. He had been taken in to try the suit they had been measuring him for. It was a dark grey suit with a waistcoat in the same color and a white dress shirt. Junmyeon had been able to pick if he wanted a tie or a bowtie and if he wanted it in a specific color. There had been a lot of options because there was no limit with the amount of colors. It took a while but at last he had picked a dark purple bowtie, nothing too special.

Junmyeon huffed, puffing his cheeks as he did and he raised his head a little to look at Minseok. Minseok was still typing; the annoying clicking noise continuing and Junmyeon just dropped his head back onto the soft mattress.

 

“Junmyeon,” Minseok said and Junmyeon looked up again, humming to let Minseok know that he listened. The tapping had stopped and Minseok was standing up. “I want to ask you something,” he said, sitting down on the bed beside Junmyeon who slowly sat up.

“Just ask,” Junmyeon said, nervousness bubbling in his chest. 

“I want to know…” Minseok began and for the first time, he seemed nervous. “Do you still have a bond to your sire?”

Oh, that’s probably why he was nervous. Because it was a sensitive question. Junmyeon frowned as he tried to think of an answer for it. He tried to grasp the bond that he had felt just two weeks ago but he didn’t feel anything. Realizing that it was gone made him feel a lot lighter. With the bond gone, he could move on for real.

 

“No,” he said. He couldn’t help the smile that danced on his lips. He was just so happy. “I’m moving on.”

“I see,” Minseok smiled, ruffling Junmyeon’s hair. “That’s wonderful.”

“I just… I hope I can continue to stay here…” Junmyeon bit his lip. He hadn’t thought much about staying around in Minseok’s mansion… nor had he thought much about the future at all.

“Of course,” Minseok ran his fingers through Junmyeon’s hair. It felt really nice. “This can be your home, as long as you want it to be.”

“Thank you,” Junmyeon whispered, closing his eyes because Minseok’s fingers playing with his hair was just so nice. “Thank you so much,” he continued. Maybe one day, this house would be his home. At least he hoped for it to become his home.

 

 

 

-

 

 

Minho had stopped by once, two weeks after the party. He was really nice to talk to and Junmyeon found himself opening up easily to Minho. Minho had explained the reason behind the urgent matter he and Jinki had needed to attend to. Apparently it had been a matter with the territories, another pack had been imposing on Minho's pack's territory. Junmyeon had been reading into werewolves a lot after meeting Minho and he understood how important their territory was for them. 

Sadly, Minho couldn't stay for too long because he had to leave for hunting together with one of his pack-mates, Taemin. But he promised Junmyeon that sometime, Junmyeon could come over to the pack's house and they would spend a bit more time together.

 

The one he spent the most time with was Yixing, who didn't work at all unlike Luhan, Yifan, Zitao and Minseok. Yixing's job was basically to make sure that the upirs kept their place and that their food was well-kept.

Ever since he had that "dinner" with Minseok, Junmyeon had been a bit curious about where they got all the humans. Yixing had said earlier that street vampires liked to prey on innocent humans. Did that mean that these humans were not innocent? The questions swirled in his head and he decided that he would ask Yixing about it today.

 

"Yixing?" he called out, grabbing the other vampire's attention. Yixing was currently knitting. He had said something earlier about Luhan being unable to keep warm when hungry or something like that. Junmyeon hadn't been paying much attention to be honest. Yixing answered with a hum but he didn’t look up from his knitting. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Yixing said and Junmyeon could hear the smile in his voice, even though he didn’t really couldn’t see Yixing’s face because he was still focused on his knitting. 

“Where do you get the human blood?”

Yixing froze in the middle of a movement, slowly turning his head up to look at Junmyeon. He then furrowed his eyebrows, leaning back in his armchair a little. “Well… First of all, there is an agreement made between the human government and the highest ranked vampires. Humans don’t know about this deal, which is for the best. But it’s a deal that when someone is sentenced to death, which they do more freely these days, they’re to be sent to one of the higher vampire’s house.”

“Oh,” Junmyeon nodded. It sounded cruel to be honest, but he had no power to change that. 

“But there are blood donors as well,” Yixing continued. “A lot of people are blood donors now, because vampires existence isn’t a secret and the government wants to keep peace with vampires, so they try to get as many donors as possible.”

Junmyeon nodded. He couldn’t remember what he had known about vampires when he was human, but he did most likely know about them.

“When we have…dinners…” he began and Yixing hummed, still knitting. “Afterwards the upirs are always cleaning up… What are they doing with the body?”

“You remember reading about them?” Junmyeon nodded. “What do upirs eat?”

“Human flesh…” Junmyeon said and everything became clear. The reason why upirs were servants was because they got protection and food. Their source of food was the corpses of the humans that the vampires fed from. “Oh.”

“Yeah, it’s quite good to have them around to be honest,” Yixing said, shrugging. “I mean, we don’t have to worry about taking care of the body. All that’s left are the bones.”

Junmyeon would rather not think about the upirs tearing open a human body, feasting on the flesh and intestines. He pressed his lips together and looked out the window, not asking anything else and just tried to think about something else.

 

 

 

-

 

 

Visiting Minho’s pack went even worse than Junmyeon had imagined. At first, he had just been a bit nervous about it but when he stood standing outside the door to their house, Junmyeon began to tremble like a leaf. He held the phone in his hand in a tight grip, trying to calm himself down. He could smell Minho's calming scent but he could also smell that huge, gray wolf that he had met in the forest. Their only meeting hadn’t exactly been good.

Before he left the mansion, Minseok had pressed a cellphone in his hand, telling him to call them when he wanted to come home. The word 'home' had caused a warm sensation to bloom in Junmyeon's chest and he had just nodded eagerly. 

 

He could hear someone approach the door and he sucked in a deep breath, finally calming down his trembling body.

 

"Junmyeon!" Thank god it was Minho who opened the door. Junmyeon just smiled widely, opening his arms to hug the taller man. It didn't feel awkward, like it would have done with Zitao or even Yixing, it just felt warm and nice. 

"How are you?" Junmyeon asked when Minho pulled back from the hug, both of them smiling widely.

"I'm good," Minho replied, taking Junmyeon’s hand. He looked like an eager puppy, Junmyeon noted. It was rather cute. "How about you?" Junmyeon replied that yes, he was feeling rather good. "The others are in the kitchen," Minho continued, pulling Junmyeon along with him inside.

Junmyeon could hear four heartbeats coming from what was probably the kitchen, beating harder and stronger than a normal human heart. If he only listened to their hearts beating and their blood rushing through their veins, he would be very, _very_ tempted to drink their blood. But as soon as the scent hit his nose, he almost grimaced in disgust. They smelled really bad. Minho was the only werewolf that smelled good to him.  


 

"Junmyeon," Jinki suddenly said causing Junmyeon to snap out of his own thoughts. He hadn't even realize that he and Minho had entered the kitchen.

Four other males were standing in the kitchen, all eyeing Junmyeon carefully. He had thought that Minho's pack was bigger, but the fact that they weren't comforted him a bit. Out of these men, he could only recognize Jinki and the feline looking man that he had seen on his first night, the one that suggested that they would kill him. One of the men, who looked a bit younger, smelled just like the gray wolf he had met before. 

Junmyeon wanted to bare his teeth, growl, whatever, but he held it. He didn't want to start anything and he had promised Yixing that he would behave well. His eyes flickered back to Jinki and he smiled a rather strained smile.

"Hello," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and collected. Jinki only nodded, smile spreading over his lips. He seemed like a nice person, so maybe Junmyeon should just calm down a little. 

"Junmyeon," Minho began, still eager as a puppy. "Let me introduce you." Junmyeon nodded, flashing Minho a small smile. "You know our alpha Jinki already," he said, motioning towards Jinki and Junmyeon nodded. Minho continued to the man standing beside Jinki, the blond one with sharp eyes and sharp cheekbones. He also had the werewolf yellow eyes, but his was a bit more to the golden side. It couldn't rival Luhan's golden eyes, but it was close.

"This is Jonghyun," Minho said and Junmyeon nodded again.

"Nice to meet you," Junmyeon said, smiling to Jonghyun who surprisingly smiled back at him, nodding at him once.

"Then we have Kibum," Minho said, continuing to the feline like man, who was staring intensely at Junmyeon. It honestly made Junmyeon feel very uncomfortable. Minho must have noticed because he gave Junmyeon a kind smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder. "He's nicer when you get to know him."

Junmyeon only nodded and smiled awkwardly at Kibum, who returned it with a little nod.

Minho moved on to the last one, which Junmyeon assumed was Taemin. Minho had mentioned a Taemin before. "Junmyeon, this is Taemin, our youngest," Minho said and Junmyeon nodded, waving a bit awkwardly at Taemin who only smiled brightly back at him. He looked like a little kid. How this kid could be a huge, terrifying beast was beyond Junmyeon.

 

"It's nice to finally meet you," Taemin said and Junmyeon really wanted to point out that they had met before. "Like this I mean," he quickly added, probably catching on Junmyeon's thoughts. "I'm sorry about before."

"Oh no," Junmyeon quickly replied, smile blooming on his lips. "It's okay, don't apologize.” Taemin smiled reaching all the way to his eyes and nodded.

"Well, let's sit down and talk later," Jinki suddenly interrupted. "I'm sure Minho is looking forward to showing you around the house."

Junmyeon turned around to look at Minho who was almost vibrating. He turned back to shoot Minho's pack a smile before Minho grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the kitchen.

"Let's go to my room first, I've cleaned it really well just for you and..." Junmyeon didn't really mean to tune out Minho but he did and just watched Minho's face instead. He couldn’t help but smile. Minho seemed to be so happy and the feeling was just so infectious.

He was happy that he decided to visit Minho. It was going to be so much more fun than he expected, he was sure of it.

 

 

 

-

 

 

“Minseok?” Junmyeon asked, looking up from the pillow. He had been feeling a bit drowsy the whole day, probably from not drinking much blood the day before when he had visited Minho. He didn’t want to bring blood with him and accidentally upset one of the werewolves. So today he had spent most of his day in soft, comfortable clothes Minseok called pajamas. Now the sun was setting and since he basically lived in Minseok’s room now, he had decided to curl up in Minseok’s huge bed. 

“What is it Junmyeon?” Minseok asked, his fingers clicking against the computer buttons. 

“What are you doing?”

“Work,” Minseok replied, his fingers still running over the computer. The sound was beginning to get a bit annoying actually. Minseok usually left his computer in his workroom downstairs but today he didn’t and the sound of the buttons being clicked was really annoying.

 

“Couldn’t you work downstairs?” Junmyeon asked, dropping his head back on the soft pillow. “The sound is annoying.”

He could hear Minseok chuckle. The sound then stopped and the computer was clicked shut. Junmyeon continued to stare at the roof, only listening to Minseok’s footstep. He was approaching the bed, unbuttoning his dress shirt. He only turned his head when the weight on the mattress shifted and looked at Minseok with a wide smile.

“Was it really bothering you that much?” Minseok asked, lying down under the thick cover and Junmyeon immediately moved closer to Minseok. Okay, Junmyeon might have exaggerated a little bit. 

“No,” he said and Minseok chuckled again, reaching out to pinch Junmyeon’s nose. Junmyeon smiled a toothy smile back at Minseok and moved even closer, laying his head on Minseok’s chest. If Minseok had drunk any blood recently, he would have been able to hear the blood being pumped around in his body but he couldn’t hear anything, only the quiet, whistling sound of Minseok’s breathing. 

The room was silent, except for the sound of their breathing. Minseok was lazily threading his fingers through Junmyeon’s blond hair while Junmyeon ran his hand up and down Minseok’s chest.

“Minseok?” Junmyeon finally broke the silence and peered up at Minseok through his eyelashes. Minseok hummed, eyes flickering down to look at Junmyeon before looking up into empty air again. “What are you working as?”

 

“I’m an author,” Minseok said and Junmyeon could hear the smile in Minseok’s voice.

"So you just write all day?" Junmyeon asked and Minseok hummed, still playing with Junmyeon's hair. "What do you write?"

"All different kinds of genres... I've had quite some time to write every genre there is."

Junmyeon hummed, closing his eyes and pressing his cheek against Minseok's chest. It felt nice with Minseok's fingers running through his hair. Soothing. "How old are you anyway?" he asked, feeling a bit bold. 

Minseok snorted and pulled at Junmyeon's ear before going back to threading his fingers through Junmyeon’s hair again. "Aren't you bold?" he asked, sounding rather amused. Junmyeon just smiled, not saying a word. "I'm very old, that's all I'm going to say."

Junmyeon hummed again, feeling okay with that answer. He could feel drowsiness wash over him as Minseok continued to play with his hair.

 

"How was the visit to Minho's house?" Minseok asked, breaking the silence with a quiet whisper.

"It was nice," Junmyeon replied, voice equally as quiet. "His pack is really nice."

"They are," Minseok said. "Is Minho just as you remembered?"

"I don't remember much about him to be honest... the only things I remember about is our first meeting and when he told me we couldn't be friends. The rest of my memories are just random pictures out of context..."

"Why couldn't you be friends?" Minseok asked, sounding honestly curious. It was a bit unusual for Minseok to ask these questions but Junmyeon didn't mind at all. "If you don't mind me asking," he quickly added and Junmyeon chuckled, shaking his head as well as he could with his cheek pressed against Minseok's chest. 

"He had been bitten by Jinki and he didn't want to accidentally hurt me..."

"Newly bit werewolves lose control very easy, so it's a very good reason," Minseok said. "I can imagine how bad he would have felt, for not telling you everything."

"He did talk about how he felt afterwards... But he wanted to keep me away from the supernatural and all..." Junmyeon shrugged. "Not that it helped much... I mean look at me..."

"At least you're still alive... A werewolf out of control is more likely to kill you," Minseok pointed out. 

"Yes... He was worried for that... So I'm not mad at him in any way..." Junmyeon mumbled. Minseok hummed and continued to thread his fingers through Junmyeon’s hair. “Minseok,” he continued after a moment of silence. 

 

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something?” Junmyeon asked, glancing up at Minseok. Minseok nodded and Junmyeon swallowed, taking a deep breath before opening his mouth. He wasn’t sure how Minseok would react. “Zitao said you had a progeny before… I just… Could you tell me a little about him… or her?”

As soon as the question left his lips, Minseok’s hand froze and he stared out in empty space. He clenched his jaw and Junmyeon could feel just how tense his body was. He shouldn’t have asked Minseok to talk about his progeny. Junmyeon began to move, preparing to get off the bed and leave Minseok alone.

“His name was Taekwoon,” Minseok suddenly said and Junmyeon stopped moving. He looked back at Minseok, who wasn’t looking back at him. The older vampire was still staring into blank space. “I was quite young when I turned him. I didn’t have a lot of experience and I still lived with my family. Taekwoon was a mistake, he was a human I failed to kill.”

“Did you abandon him?” Junmyeon couldn’t help but ask. He was terrified that Minseok in fact _did_ abandon his progeny. 

“I didn’t,” he replied and Junmyeon felt the weight on his chest ease up. “I treasured him. I couldn’t abandon him, even if my family told me so. I had stolen his human life from him, the least I could do was to take care of him.”

 

Junmyeon didn’t know what to say or do. He wanted to know more about Minseok and Taekwoon, but he didn’t want to upset Minseok.

“Somewhere along the way, I fell in love,” Minseok continued. It hurt. It hurt Junmyeon to hear those words leave Minseok’s lips. “He was with me for a long time, always by my side… I couldn’t help it.”

It was confusing. Because it hurt so much, it was so much worse than breaking a bone. His chest felt so tight and painful. But he didn’t understand why. His sire should be the most important person in his world. His sire should be the one making him feel all these things, not Minseok.

“How did he…” Junmyeon interrupted, wanting to get a distraction from the ache in his chest. 

“One of my cousins… Hyojin, you met her… she never liked Taekwoon… She didn’t like progenies at all. Foolish as I was, I came to her and told her about my feelings for Taekwoon. At that time, we were good friends and I thought I could trust her, even if she did dislike progenies. When I was done telling her, she just smiled and told me she needed to attend to some business…” Minseok trailed off and finally turned to look at Junmyeon. He had never once looked this sad and Junmyeon couldn’t help but reach out for his free hand, squeezing it gently. 

 

Minseok’s eyes were filled with sadness and Junmyeon could see just how much pain Minseok had gone through in his long life.

“Later that evening, I got home to an empty room,” Minseok continued, his voice as steady as ever. “I asked around but no one had seen Taekwoon. I met Hyojin again that evening and asked her, but she just shrugged and said that maybe he’d ran away…”

“But the bond…”

“Yes, of course I would have felt if he wanted to leave me. So I continued searching for him. It took three days. Three days of our bond slowly stretching, aching painfully and the third day, it snapped,” Minseok paused. “It hurt so badly, I couldn’t breathe… But somehow… I just knew where I had to go…”

Minseok paused again and took a deep breath. 

“I found him in the woods, together with Hyojin’s upirs. He-“ suddenly a sob caused Minseok’s body to jolt and Junmyeon squeezed his hand tighter. 

“It’s okay to cry,” he whispered as he stroked his thumb over Minseok’s hand. Minseok didn’t reply, he just cried. Junmyeon just continued to hum and stroke Minseok’s hand as he cried, trying not to tear up himself. It hurt to hear Minseok cry.

As Minseok slowly calmed down, Junmyeon began to think. He didn’t want more answers about Minseok’s last progeny, he didn’t want to know. He wanted to forget the past. 

He wanted to start over again. _With Minseok._

 

 

 

-

 

 

Miss Bae Joohyun seemed to be a very nice woman. Junmyeon had wanted to talk to her a little more after last time he met her. Now he had the chance and he was kind of excited to go to one of her parties. She was a really nice Madam and Junmyeon wanted to know about her house. He was really curious about her other progenies too; Seungwan had been very kind to Junmyeon so he couldn’t wait to meet the rest of them.

Seungwan had been very kind to Junmyeon so he couldn’t wait to meet them. But he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous, what if they didn’t like him?

“Don’t be nervous,” Yixing said, seeming to understand exactly how Junmyeon was feeling. “You’re going to adore Joohyun’s progenies, they’re all very lovely.”

“I’m sure,” Junmyeon agreed. “Seungwan was really nice.”

“She is.” Yixing agreed as the door to the limousine opened. Junmyeon’s eyes shifted to Minseok, who was the first one to step out of the car, closely followed by Luhan. When they had all finally gotten out, Junmyeon quickly attached himself to Minseok’s side. 

 

“You excited?” Minseok asked as he offered Junmyeon his elbow. Junmyeon nodded and hooked his arm in Minseok’s elbow.

“I want to meet Miss Joohyun’s progenies," Junmyeon said, smiling widely at Minseok. Minseok chuckled, amused smile on his lips.

"They're very nice, at least, Seulgi and Sooyoung are. I'm not sure about Yerim."

"Everyone has said so and I can't wait to meet them," Junmyeon said. "And Yerim too!" Maybe he was a bit too excited but he looked forward to another party, one where he wouldn't pass out in the middle of everything and destroy it. He could see Minseok shake his head from the corner of his eyes but he didn't say anything. They continued to walk up the gravel path to the huge house. It seemed to be even bigger than Minseok's house.

"Joohyun makes better business than me," Minseok suddenly said and Junmyeon turned to Minseok.

"What does she work with?" he asked. 

"She owns a large chain of hotels, all really successful," Minseok answered. Junmyeon nodded, turning his head to look in front of them as a servant, upir judging from his scent, held the heavy oak door open for them. Joohyun's house was darker than Minseok's; curtains, walls and furniture were all in a darker palette. 

 

"It's beautiful," Junmyeon breathed, staring around the house as they headed towards what Junmyeon assumed was the ballroom. 

"It is," Minseok agreed just when they entered the huge room. This room was a lot brighter than the rest of the house, with white walls and golden decorations. There were candles on the walls, all lit. Two of the walls were adored with two huge windows each, framed by dark purple curtains.

"Minseok!" Joohyun greeted them with a wide smile, another blond female by her side. She had slanted, catlike eyes in the same blue color as Joohyun. Junmyeon didn't recognize her, but he assumed that she was one of Joohyun's progenies. "And Junmyeon, nice to see you again. How are you?" she asked. Junmyeon smiled in response.

"I'm feeling very good, Miss," he replied, bowing his head a little. "How about you?"

"Very good, thank you" Joohyun smiled, her eyes forming small crescent moons before she motioned to the woman beside her. "This is Seulgi, one of my progenies," she said and Seulgi gave Junmyeon a little wave. She had really nice hands, Junmyeon noted as he returned the small wave.

 

Joohyun proceeded to talk with Minseok about what seemed to be business so Junmyeon just tuned out them, looking around the room, then back at them, then at Seulgi and then around the room again. He didn't really understand what Minseok talked about and to be honest, it was a bit boring so he'd rather tune it out than accidentally yawn from boredom. 

"Seulgi," Joohyun suddenly said and Junmyeon immediately listened again. "Why don't you bring Junmyeon with you and chat with the other girls? I'm sure Sooyoung would like to talk with him."

"Yes madam," Seulgi said, smile spreading over her lips. Junmyeon couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was. She reached out a hand and Junmyeon looked at Minseok, looking for some sort of approval. Minseok nodded and Junmyeon slowly detached himself from Minseok, taking Seulgi's hand to follow her.

He looked back at Minseok as they walked away, feeling a bit anxious to be led away alone. But Minseok had already turned back to Joohyun, continuing his conversation with him.

“Don’t worry,” Seulgi said, her voice careful and gentle. Junmyeon looked back at her. He trusted her, to a certain extent. “We’re just going to chat for a while, maybe drink some blood. Would you like some?”

The mention of blood made Junmyeon’s stomach churn, reminding him that he had not drunken any blood since the morning. “Yes please,” he said, loud and clear and Seulgi smiled widely, nodding.

 

“The blood is just over here,” she said, pulling Junmyeon with her. There was a table, white cloth covering it, filled with wine glasses with blood. “What’s your favorite?”

“I like B a lot,” Junmyeon said, smile tugging on the corner of his lips.

“I’ll get some for you, wait here,” Seulgi said, letting go of Junmyeon’s hand. She sent him one last smile before turning around to the table. Being alone in the mass of vampires made Junmyeon a little nervous, but he could manage it. He had a bit confidence in himself. He straightened his back and held his head proud. Minseok had told him he was representing Minseok’s family and he couldn’t embarrass them by being nervous of vampires.

“Look at him,” a sneer suddenly reached his ears and Junmyeon glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice. It was a vampire lady, much older than Minseok’s cousin Hyojin was, whom he had never seen before. “Minseok brought his little bastard today.”

“Why is he left without supervision?” a man beside the lady asked and Junmyeon turned his eyes away, not wanting them to notice that he was staring at them. He didn’t want to accidentally start something. “He’s a beast, sireless without control.”

 

Junmyeon bit his lips. He wasn’t like that. He may be sireless but he wasn’t a beast and he was very much in control of himself.

“I heard that he had lived on the streets for a few weeks,” another vampire lady said. When Junmyeon glanced around, he saw that she seemed to be younger than the first lady.

“So not only is he sireless, he’s also a street rat,” the man snorted and Junmyeon bit his lip. He wasn’t a street rat. “I don’t understand why Minseok took him in.”

“It would have been kinder to the poor sireless one to just kill him,” the first woman said and Junmyeon clenched his fists. His eyes felt like they were burning and his chest felt heavy. He knew he was something unwanted, but Minseok seemed to want him. Zitao had told him that they liked him, honestly. 

"I heard that he's friends with Minseok's dogs as well," a new male voice joined in and Junmyeon's shoulder slumped. Being friends with the werewolves wasn't something bad, but he knew how bad these vampires thought of werewolves and it probably didn't make their view of him better. "Minseok should be careful. That little parasite might try to overthrow him together with the dogs."

 

Junmyeon's hands were shaking and his chest hurt. He would never betray Minseok like that and it hurt him that these people even thought of him like that.

"Here you go," Seulgi said, a glass of blood appearing in front of Junmyeon’s line of vision. His attention quickly shifted and he smiled widely at her, taking the glass.

"Thank you," he said but she only shook her head.

"No problem," she said, bringing her own glass up to her lips. Junmyeon took a sip from his glass as well. "It took a little while because I went to get Yerim and Sooyoung. They will come join us after getting their own glasses," she explained and Junmyeon nodded again. Seulgi began to talk about Joohyun's business, her hotel chains and everything else in between. She sounded like she was very involved in the business. When he asked, she laughed and confirmed his thoughts. She was apparently working alongside Joohyun and Seungwan. Sooyoung and Yerim were the two progenies who didn't work in Joohyun's business, _yet_.

 

"Seulgi!" a high-pitched voice suddenly said and Junmyeon almost jumped in surprise. He had been so focused on his conversation with Seulgi that he hadn't heard the two new females approaching him. One of them, the shorter one, had blonde hair in a shade darker than Seulgi's and a rather mischievous look. The other woman had strawberry blonde hair, creating a contrast between her and the shorter one. Junmyeon assumed that they both were Joohyun's, by their blue gray eyes, exactly the same shade as Joohyun and Seulgi's.

"Junmyeon," Seulgi said, motioning to the two females with her free hand. "This is Yerim," the shorter gave Junmyeon a little wave with the hand that wasn't holding a wine glass. "And this is Sooyoung," Seulgi continued, motioning to the strawberry blonde who smiled widely at Junmyeon. "This is Minseok's..." she trailed off, her eyes suddenly looking very worried. Junmyeon didn't know himself what he was to Minseok so he just smiled to Sooyoung and Yerim.

"Minseok took me in," he explained. Yerim looked between Sooyoung and Junmyeon, her brows pulled together in a little frown. She was terribly cute, Junmyeon had to admit.

 

"Maybe you'll be like Sooyoung!" Yerim said and Junmyeon furrowed his brows. _What?_   Sooyoung and Seulgi both stared at Yerim who looked really confused as she stared back at the both of them. "What do you mean?"

"You can't just say that!" Seulgi almost hissed to the smaller vampire. 

"But I hope that he'll get a happy ending like you," Yerim whimpered, looking down on her feet.

"Don't be so hard on her," Junmyeon interrupted and Seulgi pressed her lips together. "But I am a bit intrigued. Is it okay for me to ask what Yerim meant?"

Yerim looked very nervous, her gaze flickering between Sooyoung and Seulgi. Seulgi looked anxious, sending Sooyoung an almost worried glance. Sooyoung however didn’t look bothered at all, she just smiled brightly. 

 

"I am not Joohyun's bitten progeny, I'm sort of an adopted one," she said and Junmyeon's thoughts flashed back to the book he read in Minseok's library. That sometimes vampires took abandoned progenies in, despite them being _"without control"_. "My maker didn't mean to create me, I was a mistake," she continued and Junmyeon nodded, swallowing hard. "Joohyun found me in the forest, as I tried to chase after my maker. She was so kind and she offered me food, so I followed her."

"But..." Junmyeon trailed off, not wanting to hit a nerve and upset Sooyoung. "You're Joohyun's...now? I mean... the eyes..." 

"Yes," a smile spread over Sooyoung's lips. "It happened very recently. Joohyun knew who my maker was and eventually, she hunted her down and killed her. That allowed me to be claimed, so to speak... and..." Sooyoung shrugged, looking rather nonchalant. Junmyeon was horrified that she didn't feel stronger that Joohyun had killed her maker. He himself still felt that terrible bond pulling him to his sire, even if he wanted to ignore and forget it.

"Didn't you... feel anything?" Junmyeon asked. "I mean... I felt the bond between me and my sire… I imagine that it would hurt when your maker is killed."

"I don't feel anything... I have no idea why... I mean I felt a little tug when my madam was still alive but I didn't feel anything when she died. Maybe it's different for everyone?"

Junmyeon didn't say anything; he just nodded and took another sip from his glass. Sooyoung probably was right about everyone being different, but he didn't dwell on it. What his mind drifted off to was what Yerim had said, that maybe he would be like Sooyoung. Did she mean that maybe Minseok would take him in as a progeny? Would Minseok even consider doing that?

 

Seulgi looked like she was about to interrupt Junmyeon's thoughts but an arm was slung around his neck and Junmyeon jumped in surprise.

"Hi Junmyeon," Seungwan said, her smile almost blinding Junmyeon. "You fit in perfectly with us, imagine how perfect if would be if Joohyun took you in. You would look cute with blue eyes."

Junmyeon just stared. How would he even reply to that?

"Minseok has blue eyes as well," Yerim pointed out and Seungwan hummed, petting Junmyeon's hair a little.

"You'll fit right in," she continued and Junmyeon let out a small embarrassed laugh. He didn't really know what to think about everything. 

 

Seulgi seemed to notice how uncomfortable Junmyeon felt and quickly changed subject. Seungwan kept her arm around Junmyeon as they proceeded to talk about some outing they had gone to yesterday. Junmyeon didn't listen that much. His attention went to the conversation that was going on just beside them.

 

"Did you hear what the little parasite said?" a vampire sneered. It sounded a lot like Hyojin, the resolute woman who Junmyeon had met at Minseok's party. "That only shows that it was a mistake by Joohyun to take her in. If she didn't feel anything for her maker, why would she feel anything if Joohyun was killed?"

"I don't think she'd feel anything. She's obviously as soulless as the rest of those parasites," another vampire commented and Junmyeon nervously glanced at Sooyoung, who was smiling at Yerim, chatting away. He felt relived that she hadn't heard anything, or at least it seemed like she hadn't heard anything.

 

“Don’t mind them,” Seungwan suddenly whispered in his ear. “They’re always like that,” she continued and Junmyeon nodded stiffly.

"She might even go as far as killing Joohyun herself. She obviously doesn't have any bond to her maker," Hyojin continued and Junmyeon felt his stomach pull itself together in a tight knot. Why were these people so keen on talking like this? It made no sense to him. Why couldn’t they just enjoy their evening?

"Do you think Minseok's fake progeny might try it?" a third vampire entered the conversation with that question and the knot in Junmyeon's stomach felt even tighter. 

"Maybe he'd realize how worthless he is," Hyojin sneered. Junmyeon could almost see her expression in his mind. Her words were harsh. It felt horrible, because they weren’t true. He was worth something to Minseok. “He must be quite a burden for Minseok to bear.”

Junmyeon felt the pressure on his chest build up as they continued to talk about him and Sooyoung. He knew Makerless progenies weren’t well received in the vampire community but he could never have imagined that it was this bad. He didn’t want to be here anymore. It didn’t matter that Seungwan had her arm around him and tried to make him feel welcomed, he was just so angry and sad.

“I heard from Minseok’s upirs that he even hissed at Luhan,” one of them said and Junmyeon clenched his jaw. He had enough. He shrugged off Seungwan's arm and turned around, ignoring Seungwan's tries to grab his arm. "Do you think- oh," the male vampire stopped talking and looked at Junmyeon as he stopped in front of them. "Do you have anything on your mind, little one?"

 

"Yes," Junmyeon replied, voice swaying and he cleared his throat. "Yes," he repeated, his voice steady this time. "I want you to stop talking rudely about me."

"You," the vampire began, pressing his lips together in a thin line and eyes darkened. Junmyeon closed his fists tightly, trying to keep himself from trembling. "What makes you think that _you_ can speak to _me_ like that?" he hissed, taking a step closer. "Huh?" he grabbed Junmyeon's chin, sharp nails digging into Junmyeon's skin. "You're just an unwanted parasite."

"You're wrong," Junmyeon whispered, holding back a whimper when the vampire's grip tightened. "I'm wanted," he continued, looking straight into the vampire's eyes. 

"You think Minseok wants you?" the vampire asked, snorting. "He's desperate. He would take any abandoned parasite to try and replace his lost one."

No. He _wasn't_ a substitute, Junmyeon was sure of that. He swallowed hard, trying to think of a reply but he didn't know what to answer.

 

"Mister Hwang," Minseok's stiff voice said from behind Junmyeon and the vampire's grip loosened. Junmyeon quickly backed, freeing himself from the other vampire. He looked between Minseok and Mister Hwang, not saying a word. "What's going on here?" Minseok asked. His voice was soft but Junmyeon could hear anger lacing his tone. Minseok didn't look at Junmyeon at all, only at Mister Hwang.

"Your fake progeny," he began, strained smile on his lips. "He stepped out of line, I simply had to put him back in place."

"Oh," Minseok said, nodding before turning his eyes to Junmyeon and then back to Mister Hwang. "What did he do?"

"He-"

"I asked him to stop talking rudely about me," Junmyeon didn't care that he cut of Mister Hwang's sentence, he had enough. 

"I don't see the point of this commotion," Minseok said, his posture tense. He gave Mister Hwang a tight-lipped smile before he turned around, motioning for Junmyeon to follow him. “Let’s go, this is completely unnecessary.”

“Don’t fool that poor boy, Minseok!” Mister Hwang called after them and Junmyeon could feel how his hands started trembling. He had no idea what to think.

“Don’t listen to him,” Minseok whispered, taking Junmyeon’s hand.

“We all know you’re just trying to replace Taekwoon!” Mister Hwang tried again. Junmyeon lowered his head and exhaled loudly.

He just wanted to go back to Minseok’s house.

 

 

 

-

 

 

All of Junmyeon’s anger had been washed away during the car ride back but he felt exhausted. He didn’t want to look at Minseok. He didn’t mean to create such a scene and embarrass Minseok like that.  


He had left the car quickly and gone to Minseok’s room, not looking back at all. As soon as he stepped into the room he kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket, just letting it fall to the floor and tossed his socks to join the pile on the floor. He didn't really bother picking them up even though he knew Minseok would be annoyed. He just wanted to sit down on the bed, calm down a little so he wouldn’t cry.

 

He crawled up on the bed, leaning his back against the headboard, drawing up his knees against his chest. He didn’t know what to think. Minseok had told him that he was wanted but the other vampires’ words hurt. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to hold back a small sob. When he opened them, droplets of blood escaped and dripped onto the white sheets.

"Oh no," he whimpered, choking on a sob and another drop of blood stained the sheets. He brought his hands to his face, trying to dry the blood from his cheeks but it only smeared it out more. Footsteps were approaching Minseok's door and Junmyeon sniveled, trying to hide the fact that he had been crying but that didn't go too well.

"Junmyeon?" Minseok asked, pushing the door open and Junmyeon made one last try to dry the blood of his cheeks. When it didn't work, he just covered his face with his hands. He could hear Minseok walk over the wooden floor. The bed shifted as he sat down. "What's wrong?" he asked, question causing Junmyeon to turn his face away.

"Nothing," he mumbled. He didn't want to bother Minseok any more than necessary. 

 

"Junmyeon," Minseok said, easily pulling his hands away from his face. Junmyeon stared at him with wide eyes, feeling more blood stain his cheeks. "Why are you crying?" he asked, oh so gently, as he placed a hand on Junmyeon's cheek, thumb caressing his blood stained skin.

"It's nothing," Junmyeon said, turning his head away. Minseok pulled his hand back as Junmyeon made another attempt to dry the blood away. He could feel Minseok watching him intensely but he refused to look up at him.

"Look at me," Minseok snapped, voice sharp and Junmyeon immediately obeyed, raising his head to stare straight into Minseok's icy blue eyes. His jaws were clenched and he looked almost angry. "Now tell me what's wrong," he said but Junmyeon stubbornly shook his head. He expected Minseok to get more annoyed, but instead his face softened. "You don’t have to feel bad about what happened at the party.”

Junmyeon averted his eyes again and started to fiddle nervously with the comforter. "I'm sorry," he whispered, feeling his chest tightening in sadness. He just wanted to turn away from Minseok and cry. 

"What do you have to be sorry about?" Minseok placed his hand on top of Junmyeon's, stroking the soft skin gently. "You're not responsible for what they said."

 

"I'm a burden and I embarrassed you," Junmyeon finally said, another sob slipping past his lips. "I'm sorry," he continued, drawing his hand back from Minseok's and held it against his chest.

"You're not a burden nor did you embarrass me," Minseok assured him, bringing his hand up to Junmyeon's cheek. Junmyeon swallowed, calm washing over him at Minseok’s touch.

"Really?" Junmyeon whispered.

"Really," Minseok said, small smile tugging on his lips as he stroked Junmyeon's cheek with his thumb. "I want you here. I want you as my progeny, not as a substitute." 

 

"You want to what?" Junmyeon asked, eyes wide in disbelief. Minseok didn't answer him immediately; he only moved to sit on his knees, closer to Junmyeon. He gently gripped Junmyeon's shoulder before pressing his lips against Junmyeon's left cheek. His tongue darted out to lick some of the dried blood off Junmyeon's cheek.

 

"I said," he smiled, one of his hands letting go of Junmyeon's shoulder to place it on Junmyeon's chin. "I want you as my progeny. I want to be your sire."

Minseok as his sire... That felt unbelievable and Junmyeon bit his lip, his chest aching. Minseok was so kind; he didn't think he would pull such a cruel joke. He looked down brows furrowed and eyes stinging.

"I'm not joking," Minseok said, voice firm, causing Junmyeon looked up again. He looked serious, eyes set on Junmyeon in determination and jaw clenched. "I want you."

"As your progeny?" Junmyeon asked, just to make sure. A seed of hope was blooming in his chest.

"Yes," Minseok smiled, hands slipping down to the hem of Junmyeon's shirt. "Do you want me?"

 

Junmyeon nodded, voice suddenly gone. He wanted Minseok so bad. Minseok, who was kind and opened his arms for Junmyeon when no one else did. Minseok was still looking at him, probably expecting a vocalized answer and Junmyeon parted his lips, trying to get a sound past them. "Yes," he finally breathed when he found his voice. "Yes, I want you."

A smile spread over Minseok's lips, showcasing his white teeth and fangs. A shiver ran through Junmyeon's spine at the thought of those fangs biting him. He quickly began to tug at Minseok's suit jacket, trying to rid the older of it. Minseok's laugh rang in his ears but he didn't really mind it. All he wanted was to get Minseok out of the suit jacket.

"Aren't you eager?" Minseok asked as soon as his suit jacket was tossed to the floor. He pushed Junmyeon back into the mattress, straddling him. As he worked on the buttons of the dress shirt, he leaned down to clean the blood off Junmyeon's cheeks with careful licks. Junmyeon whined, arousal stirring hot in his lower belly. He could feel Minseok smirk against his cheek as he cleaned the last blood off his cheek. By now, Junmyeon's shirt was open, exposing his whole torso for Minseok.

 

"So pretty," Minseok cooed, running a hand from Junmyeon's belly button along the small trail of hair down to the waistband of his pants. Junmyeon sucked a ragged breath, his hands reaching up to Minseok's shirt, yanking him down. He closed his eyes as he kissed Minseok, the faint taste of O blood still lingering.

"Off," Junmyeon mumbled. Placing one hand around Minseok's neck to hold him down, he pressed his nose onto Minseok's neck inhaling his rich scent. His other hand slowly found it's way to Minseok's back, gripping the fabric tight. He inhaled Minseok's scent, his whole body buzzing in delight and tore Minseok's shirt open. He could hear Minseok chuckle again and he pulled back a little, looking at Minseok. His shirt was halfway ripped open, a piece of fabric just barely holding together with the rest of the shirt. 

 

"My little Junmyeon," he chuckled, hands on the collar of his shirt before he ripped it open, buttons popping off. Sure Junmyeon had gotten a bit touchy with Minseok before, but he had never seen Minseok without a shirt. He swallowed as he watched the muscles on Minseok's upper body flex under the taut skin. He tossed the shirt to the side and turned back to stare straight at Junmyeon, sending a shiver through the younger vampire's whole body. 

"Minseok," Junmyeon breathed, hands desperately grasping the sheets as Minseok leaned down to grace his teeth over Junmyeon's neck. The small prickling of the sharp fangs were enough to send jolts of pleasure through Junmyeon's body and a small whimper slipped past his lips. Minseok placed his hands on Junmyeon's sides, fingers dancing lightly over the pale skin. He moved lower, hooking them in the waistband of Junmyeon's pants. "Take them off," Junmyeon grunted, raising his hips a little. 

He could hear Minseok hum, slowly unbuttoning his pants. The arousal had grown even hotter now and he just wanted Minseok to touch him skin to skin. Minseok pulled off the pants and tossed them to the side. Junmyeon briefly wondered if Minseok really didn't mind that the pants were on the floor, but he quickly let go of that thought as became aware of Minseok's hand on his half hard cock, palming him through his briefs.

 

Soon his fully erect cock was straining against his briefs and he looked at Minseok through half-lidded eyes, chewing on his bottom lip. Minseok's lips were stretched out in a smirk as he slowly pulled down Junmyeon's boxers. As his boxers also were tossed to the side, Junmyeon noticed that Minseok was still in his pants.

"Pants off," he managed to get out before gasping when Minseok wrapped his hand around his cock, his other hand cupping his balls. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, almost losing himself in the pleasure. But then Minseok's hands were gone from his cock and the mattress shifted. He opened his eyes and raised himself on his elbows, looking at Minseok who was undressing. 

His tongue darted out to lick his dry lips and he swallowed, a need rising in him. He needed Minseok now. His whole body was burning, sensation similar to the blood thirst. 

Minseok pushed his boxers down, revealing his cock for Junmyeon. He looked absolutely gorgeous and Junmyeon's fingers were itching to touch him.

"Minseok," Junmyeon whispered as Minseok crawled back onto the bed, straddling Junmyeon again. Minseok turned his attention back to Junmyeon's cock, taking it in between his lips. Junmyeon's whole body was trembling and he gasped as Minseok began to suck. Pleasure was pulsating through Junmyeon’s body and he felt his stomach muscles tighten. "Minseok," he gasped again and Minseok chuckled around his cock, causing Junmyeon to squeeze his eyes shut.

Then Minseok pulled away, leaving Junmyeon's cock coated in saliva and aching for more. A whine left Junmyeon's lips and he opened his eyes, only to see Minseok reach over to the nightstand. He leaned back with a little bottle without lable in his hand.

 

"What's that?" Junmyeon asked, his voice coming out as a whisper.

"Lube," Minseok replied as he squeezed out some of the clear liquid onto his fingers. He placed the bottle aside and ran one hand along Junmyeon's balls, down to his ass and spread his cheeks open. "You ready?"

"Yes," Junmyeon breathed. Minseok hummed before he gently pushed one lube-slicked finger inside Junmyeon. It didn't hurt much, just felt weird but Junmyeon was quickly distracted when Minseok's free hand came up to his chest, pinching his nipple. He leaned down to catch the gasp that escaped Junmyeon's lips with his own. Minseok began to slowly move his fingers in and out, continuing to kiss Junmyeon passionately.

Another finger was added and Junmyeon felt a sting of pain but it still felt so good. He couldn't help but moan against Minseok's lips. He could feel Minseok smile before adding a third finger. This time, he hit Junmyeon's prostate right on and it felt like electricity coursed through his body. 

 

"More, please more," he begged when Minseok pulled out, his hands gripping onto Minseok's shoulders. Minseok hummed again as his hand trailed down Junmyeon's torso, to his groin and then his ass. He once again spread his cheeks and looked at Junmyeon.

"You ready?" he asked, voice low and husky. Junmyeon only gave a needy whine and a desperate nod. He heard Minseok chuckle before he slowly pushed his cock inside of Junmyeon. He felt so full. Junmyeon moaned and tilted his head back, closing his eyes. "Okay?" 

"Yes," Junmyeon gasped, his grip on Minseok's shoulders tightening. They were so close to each other, chests almost touching. "Yes, yes, yes."

 

Minseok leaned down to press a kiss on Junmyeon's neck as he started rocking his hips. Junmyeon groaned and met Minseok's thrusts. Minseok began to thrust harder and Junmyeon cried out in pleasure when Minseok hit his prostate. He clenched down around Minseok's cock at the pleasure.

He could hear how Minseok's breathing was becoming heavier and he opened his eyes to look at Minseok. 

Minseok's eyes were half-lidded but there was something in his gaze that made Junmyeon's chest tighten. He was looking at Junmyeon with so much fondness. Junmyeon could feel his cheeks getting wet again, but he wasn't sad.

"Junmyeon?" Minseok whispered, still rocking his hips but he looked a bit concerned. "Does it hurt?"

"No," Junmyeon said, his voice wavering. "Continue, please," he whispered. The fond expression that had been on Minseok's face and the concern he just showed for Junmyeon were only adding on to the heat that was coiling in Junmyeon's lower gut. He was so close. So, so close. 

 

Junmyeon's body jerked and he cummed onto his own stomach with a loud cry, his eyes squeezing shut and his nails digging into Minseok's shoulders. He clenched down around Minseok again and a few thrusts later, Minseok came inside Junmyeon, loud groan escaping his lips.

Minseok slumped down on top of Junmyeon, his cheek pressed against Junmyeon's chest. Junmyeon was still crying, the feeling of being wanted was just overwhelming. Minseok wanted him. His sobs went from quiet ones to rather loud ones as he could feel an invisible bond forming between him and Minseok.

 

_His_ sire.

 

"Junmyeon," Minseok whispered, reaching out a hand to place it on Junmyeon's head. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Junmyeon stuttered, finally gathering himself. "I'm just happy."

"Me too," Minseok said, wide smile appearing on his face. He gently ran his hand through Junmyeon's blond hair, toying with a few stands. "Me too."

The room fell into silence, save for the sound of their breathing. Junmyeon tried to dry some of the bloody tears from his cheeks but he could feel fresh blood trailing down his cheeks. The newly formed bond felt warm and nice in Junmyeon's chest and he could feel his lips stretch out in a really wide smile. 

 

"We should go and clean up," Minseok finally broke the silence and Junmyeon nodded. Minseok placed a small kiss against Junmyeon's chest before he pulled his cock out of Junmyeon and got of the bed. Junmyeon also got off the bed, taking the hand that Minseok offered him.

Together they headed to the bathroom, hand in hand. It felt a bit odd to walk, but it didn't hurt. 

"Can we take a bath?" Junmyeon asked when they stepped into the room.

"Yes, but lets clean you a little first," Minseok said, chuckling. Junmyeon looked down on himself and back up at Minseok, nodding. Bathing with cum on his stomach and some dripping out of him didn't sound like a good idea. Minseok handed Junmyeon a soft towel before he turned to the bathtub.

 

"Is it okay to use this?" Junmyeon asked, holding up the towel. He didn't want to ruin a towel by cleaning off cum with it.

"Yes of course," Minseok said, glancing over his shoulder at Junmyeon. "And you should clean your face as well," he continued, turning back to open the tap to the bathtub. Junmyeon nodded, wiping cum off of his stomach and did his best to wipe away most of the cum dripping out from his hole. He tossed the towel into the laundry basket. 

He opened the tap on the sink, preparing to clean the blood off his face but then he looked up in the mirror. What he saw stunned him.

 

_His eyes._

 

When he had woken up this morning, his eyes had been red as blood. Now he was staring into a pair of ice blue eyes, exactly the same shade at Minseok's.

"Minseok," Junmyeon whispered, not tearing his eyes away from his reflection. He didn't want to look away, only to look back and see that his eyes were red and this color change had just been a hallucination. "My eyes..."

"They're very pretty," Minseok commented when he stopped beside Junmyeon, placing his hand on Junmyeon's neck and played a little with the hair on his nape. "Look at me."

He stared at the mirror for a while longer, just taking in his eyes beautiful blue shade before slowly turning them to Minseok. His chest felt so weird, but not like it had been when he was sad. It felt like tiny butterflies fluttering around.

Minseok leaned closer, his lips just ghosting over Junmyeon's before he pressed their lips firmly together. Junmyeon's hands flew up to Minseok's shoulders and he gripped them tightly. He never wanted to let go of Minseok. Minseok who made him feel so safe. Minseok who cared for him. 

Minseok who had brought him home. 

_ He was finally home. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any questions just ask me at ask.fm/unicornsparklll !


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